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Brooklyn Neighborhood Group Opens New Plazas and Public Art in Bed-Stuy

Brooklyn Neighborhood Group Opens New Plazas and Public Art in Bed-Stuy

Fulton Street, the bustling commercial strip of the Brooklyn neighborhood, Bedford Stuyvesant, has just received a much-needed makeover. The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., along with community stakeholders and city officials, gathered this morning at the new Marcy Plaza to celebrate the completion of a $20 million neighborhood revitalization project, funded by the city. The organization led efforts to revamp Restoration Plaza with the help Garrison Architects, build a new plaza along Marcy Avenue, implement public art, and overhaul a mile-long stretch along Fulton Street with expanded sidewalks, new benches, trees, plantings, bike racks, and lighting. These streetscape improvements aim to bolster local businesses and support the local residential community by creating a safer and more walkable neighborhood.

“This is a perfect model of public and private partnership that led to beautiful public art,” said Kyle Kimball, the president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, at the ribbon cutting. “[The plaza] makes the neighborhood more accessible.”

This project is just one piece of a larger plan to revitalize Bedford-Stuyvesant, which has also spurred $100 million in private investment dedicated to building roughly 300 mixed-income housing units and 40,000 square feet of commercial space in the neighborhood.

“This neighborhood revitalization project will not only provide Bed-Stuy residents with an opportunity to enjoy the neighborhood’s beauty and culture, but will also provide housing, business opportunities and shopping destinations for the people of our community and its visitors,” said Colvin W. Grannum, CEO and President of Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., in a statement.

At the new Marcy Plaza, a public art installation by artist Ellen Harvey, entitled “Mathematical Star,” was also unveiled. This piece, funded by the Department of Cultural Affair’s Percent for Art program, is a mosaic made up of different patterns inspired by photographs of iconic landmarks in Bed-Stuy.

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