Here’s Street Lab’s fall newsletter…
Dear friends and followers,
Street Lab is on pace to complete over 430 pop-ups across New York City this year—providing open-air reading rooms, play on Open Streets, outdoor dining at our One Big Table, and much more. From streets in the Bronx to Times Square, we’re doing pop-up that supports neighborhoods and brings New Yorkers together.
Recent highlights are below, including a remarkable day with the New York Yankees. And if you want to come backstage at Street Lab, we’re opening our office and warehouse for Open House New York this weekend, Sunday Oct. 22, 12-3pm. Drop by!
We couldn’t do this work without your support—thanks for sticking with us!
See you on the street,
Leslie and Sam
Co-founders, Street Lab
Our circuit across New York City touches all five boroughs, 290+ local partners, and over 390 public spaces—Open Streets, plazas, parks, piers, sidewalks, and more.
To keep up with demand, we’ve dramatically expanded our capacity in 2023, tripling our storage space, doubling our fleet of pop-up designs and equipment, and building a team of 37 full and part time staff who make it all happen. Thank you, team!
So this actually happened: the New York Yankees made a surprise visit to a Street Lab pop-up in the Bronx…
..and then invited us back to the stadium where our staff was honored during an on-field ceremony in which Leslie and Sam threw out the first pitch. (Video)
Street Lab has returned to Times Square with a series of pop-ups to serve recently-arrived migrant families who have received temporary housing in hotels nearby.
Street Lab has significantly expanded our partnership with community groups and NYC DOT to launch and support new public spaces in underserved areas of the city, including new school streets. These pop-up efforts are leading to permanent changes, like the new Beverley Road Plaza in Brooklyn.
Our Equipment Library for Public Space now lets community groups in New York City borrow Street Lab designs and program kits to activate neighborhood public spaces across the city. So far, the Library has lent out programming kits 258 times to 46 community groups, including 34 Business Improvement Districts.
With support from NYC Dept. of Small Business Services, we launched Meet a Small Business, a program that creates a place for activities to promote small businesses, activate commercial districts, and build community.
This summer, eleven public high school students participated in Street Lab Teens, helping to activate Open Streets and other NYC public spaces.
Our collaboration with WNYC lets New Yorkers share their stories on the radio. Listen to the series “Our City, Our Stories” here.
This August, we street-tested prototype elements for OASIS NYC a pop-up, unplugged, open-air cooling station that is in the works.
We’ve increased the use of sustainably sourced wood and 100% recycled plastic in the designs we fabricate for NYC and ship to other cities.
Street Lab has been in the news, including the New York Times and BronxNet TV..
Go behind the scenes at Street Lab during Open House New York 2023 on Sunday Oct. 22 from 12-3 pm. Come and meet us!
81% of our work this year has been in low to moderate income areas of the city, made possible in part by individual donors. Thanks for your support!
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