Kids Take the Streets

May 3, 2024

Opening up a street for play is a powerful way to get kids engaged in improving their neighborhood. Street Lab is piloting new Open Streets with five public schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and extraordinary results are already coming in—students are now leading the way, helping with set up and break down, creating signs and flyers for outreach, and telling us what they think about the past, present, and future of their streets. And these kids are thinking BIG. Plans are in the works to create pop-up water parks, and petitions are going around to get city support for street cleanups, trees and more. What started as thinking about the improving the street, is leading to thinking about improving the neighborhood, the city, and the world.

Street Lab is supporting these students through our New Public Spaces initiative, piloting Open Streets in 11 locations made possible with funding from individuals, J.M. Kaplan Fund, Con Edison, and NYC Dept. of Transportation. Word is spreading fast, and we now have 9 more schools eager to work with us. To be a part of this work, make a donation here or get in touch!

A group of students sitting on a wooden bench and a teacher standing in front of them and a wooden fixture.
A little girl raising her hand.
A view of backs of students sitting on wooden bench.
A boy writing something on the paper roll.
A group of students writing something on the paper roll on the street.
A group of children gathered around a table.
A group of students putting away plastic benches.
A student putting away wooden parts of a bench.
A group of students holding wooden parts of a bench.