Interactive Online Mapping & Engagement Platform for the Waterfront Plan:

• Create a living, interactive digital map that tracks and celebrates new and proposed tree plantings, sidewalk planters, yards, and open space conversions.

Key features:

• Community-submitted tree stories & nominations

• Mapping of EJ indicators (air quality, flood zones, truck routes)

• Integration with More Gardens youth curriculum, cultural events, and living art installations

Tools:

• Mapbox/Leaflet or ArcGIS + WordPress site

Themes

• Environmental justice, participatory GIS, green equity, climate storytelling

Redesign of the 40+ year-old beloved community garden to include:

• Native ecology, nature-based play, water harvesting, pollinator beds, and seating

• Treehouses

• La Rosa Stage- an Earth-based open-air stage converting to an all-weather indoor community meeting space

• La Rosa Iron Fence with sidewalk pavers and bio-swales

• Willow structures, herbal gardens, compost systems

• Co-design with children and families

Themes

• Child-centered ecological design, intergenerational learning, land justice

Design and build rooted and mobile living willow installations in sidewalks, plazas, schools, and gardens.

• Shade canopies with sacred geometry

• Artistic public seating integrated into planters

• Moves across Open Streets or installed in sidewalk beds

Themes

• Ecological art, sacred design, urban cooling, healing public space

Transform parks like Nathan Straus Playground, and schools like PS140 & PS20 into:

• Porous-surfaced courts and natural turf play zones

• Amphitheaters with natural stone seating

• Willow shade areas, indigenous gardens, edible edges

Themes

• Youth-led green infrastructure, EJ recreation access, rewilding public space

Design hands-on outdoor learning spaces at NYC public schools.

• Willow domes, sensory gardens, compost, rainwater collection

• Designed with students, teachers, and families

Themes

• Climate curriculum, public land use, green education infrastructure

Reimagine underutilized NYC Parks and DOT parcels as:

• Food forests, indigenous planting beds, herbal gardens

• Managed by communities and school partnerships

Themes

• Food justice, cultural landscapes, co-governance of public land

Support community campaigns to shift city planning and zoning policy:

• "One Garden per 99 Units" proposal

• Mapping housing density vs. green space access

• Policy briefs and visual advocacy tools

Themes

• Land use justice, climate policy, equitable development

Co-create public art, festivals, and healing rituals tied to ecological seasons:

• Chaharshanbe Suri, Equinox ceremonies, Nowruz, Solstice, Indigenous renewals

• Living stages, fire rituals, willow art, soundscapes

Themes

• Cultural ecology, ancestral memory, communal resilience, healing justice

Design replicable, multilingual seasonal curricula for:

• South Bronx and Lower East Side gardens, parks, and schools

• Thematic modules (trees, water, soil, fire, air) with arts, storytelling, and science

Themes

• Youth climate justice, cultural ecology, nature-based education

Co-develop designs and policy frameworks to create permanent Open Streets in LES and South Bronx:

• Community visioning and spatial justice mapping

• Tree canopies, planter seating, art-activated zones

• Inspired by Broadway transformation and DOT plaza model

Themes

• Mobility justice, green streets, pedestrian equity, community ownership