Placemaking
In partnership with Buy Local and Uptown Grand Central (UGC), Working Together campaigns to revitalize, re-energize and reactivate the local economy of the East Harlem corridor. A partnership of business development with community engagement events encourages and supports small businesses willing to attract customers, increase sales and foot traffic. Placemaking includes:
Make Music NY
A variety concert series hosted by UGC with MMM showcasing small businesses along the 125th Street corridor.
Small Business Pop Up
East Harlem small businesses selling their goods under the 125th Metro North St, hosted by UGC.
Meet Me Merchant Mondays
A series highlighting 125th and 116th Street businesses offering free samples and demonstrations.
Cash Mobs
Local church group visit neighborhood small businesses and purchase goods with cash.
East Harlem Nights
East Harlem small businesses selling their goods.
East Harlem Crawls
Guided tours around East Harlem to local businesses.
Placemaking Gallery
We invite you to browse our image gallery featuring past Working Together Placemaking events. See button below.
Placemaking Strategy
In FY19, the BDC will conduct regular customer draw events (the Musical Series initiative, with about 30 overall performances), as we believe consistency is crucial to creating momentum and ensuring promotional efforts do not go into inertia (locations and dates for the events are yet to be determined). UGC strategy will change to address more direct impact to merchants on 125th Street.
The BDC strategy will remain the same. We plan to conduct about 28 events. Jumping Santa and El Grito celebrations shall be also pursued. We will partner with Buy Local, a project of the BDC that connects local merchants with large institutions that contract vending services on a regular basis; and with Meet Me Merchant Mondays, another project of the BDC, coordinated by a local promoter (LRDB Productions), that arranges placemaking activities within local business on the Corridors.
The main objective will remain: showing merchants the mechanics and rationale behind events to consistently increase sales and foot traffic (as a sustainable activity), after the end of Working Together.
In FY19, the BDC shall maintain its association with UGC. Their strategy will now switch away from the pop-up stand under the train tracks, to an alternative venue (The Caribbean Cultural Center), from which new, more direct, Placemaking events shall be conducted. A more detailed schedule of activities will follow.
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