Neighborhoods Now

In collaboration with Van Alen Institute, we supported local organizations to lead pandemic recovery in their neighborhoods.

Overview

A collaboration between Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute, Neighborhoods Now connects New York City neighborhoods hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with firms in our collective network.

By building interdisciplinary partnerships, Neighborhoods Now has supported eleven local organizations across four boroughs in leading their communities’ recovery. Over three years, the initiative evolved from rapid, tactical responses to long-term recovery strategies on a wider scale. What began as a responsive six-week sprint developed into a platform for enduring partnerships and collective activism. 

In 2022, through Neighborhoods Now: Forward, seven interdisciplinary teams led by community organizations enlivened and programmed public space, provided technical support to small businesses, and strengthened cultural activities.

Neighborhoods Now: Forward was made possible through a grant from Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund.

Our Partners

82nd Street Partnership
Creating a roadmap for Jackson Heights’ 82nd Street commercial corridor to rebuild from the pandemic.

Bed-Stuy Gateway BID
Building on Winter Wonderland, an open-air holiday market supporting local small businesses.

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
Developing new financial and spatial resources to support small businesses in Brooklyn.

Community League of the Heights
Conducting a needs assessment of businesses to help create a thriving and vibrant commercial corridor.

FABnyc
Strengthening sites for cultural activity and planning new sites and platforms.

Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition
Completing a neighborhood assessment to understand the challenges and opportunities for small businesses.

Think!Chinatown and Asian Americans for Equality
Expanding the Chinatown Night Market through improved design and new community outreach.

Banana Kelly
Reactivation of community gardens in the South Bronx. (2021)

Cooper Square Committee
An office retrofit to reduce the risk of COVID-19 for staff and clients. (2020)

University Neighborhood Housing Program
An office update in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols. (2020)

Our Participants

We are immensely grateful to the 80+ firms and individuals who mobilized to lend their expertise through this initiative. Our participants included architects, urban designers, engineers, lawyers, public health experts, graphic designers, and more.

Meet Our Participants

Resources & Reports

In 2020-21, teams addressed immediate needs for social distancing, open air dining, and outdoor programming. Teams went beyond design interventions to organize financial workshops for small businesses, draft legal templates, and navigate programs like Open Streets and Open Restaurants. Our report details what we learned, what worked, and what challenges remain.

Read the 2020-21 Update

In 2020, we published a digital toolkit at neighborhoodsnow.nyc, featuring 40+ designs, strategies, and resources created by our Neighborhoods Now teams.

Browse the Toolkit

In collaboration with our partners, three graphic design firms — Partner & Partners, Pentagram, and Two Twelve — created bold, colorful, and simple posters to convey COVID-19 safety protocols. Free to download, 50+ posters are available in Arabic, Bengali, English, and Spanish.

Download Signage

Events

10.26.22

Neighborhoods Now Summit

Event Neighborhoods Now
On October 26, we celebrated seven projects that demonstrate the power of community-led design in New York City. 
07.22.21

Neighborhoods Now Summer Summit

Event Neighborhoods Now
On October 7, we held a two-part Neighborhoods Now Summit: Strategies for Reopening and Recovery.
10.07.20

Neighborhoods Now: Strategies for Reopening and Recovery

Event Neighborhoods Now
On October 6, we held a two-part Neighborhoods Now Summit: Strategies for Reopening and Recovery.
10.06.20

Neighborhoods Now: Strategies for Reopening and Recovery

Event Neighborhoods Now
On October 6, we held a two-part Neighborhoods Now Summit: Strategies for Reopening and Recovery.
06.26.20

Neighborhoods Now Kick-off

Event Neighborhoods Now
On June 26, we held our Neighborhoods Now Kick-off.

Press

A Night Market Has Popped Up in NYC’s Chinatown, Next City

COVID-19 decimated NYC businesses. This free program is helping them recover, Fast Company

The Matchmaking Service That Pairs Visionary Designers With Covid Conundrums, Bedford + Bowery

The Secret to Year-Round Streeteries? What Greenhouses Can Teach Us, Curbed

Designers can – and should – have local impact, Icon Magazine

Van Alen Institute and Urban Design Forum launch online design toolkit for COVID-19 recovery efforts, The Architect’s Newspaper

Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute will continue their Neighborhoods Now pandemic recovery initiative for 2022, Archinect

Funding provided by:

This project is made possible by:

Lead

Benefactor

Advocate

Patron

Supporter