#whedco

Year: 4

Neighborhood: Southern Boulevard

Borough: Bronx

The Challenge:

Research shows that Bronx residents are looking for local retailers along Southern Boulevard. Nearly $10 million in annual retail demand for products like clothing, electronics, and food remains unmet. However, key retail properties in desirable locations stand vacant due to disrepair and limited marketing, hindering the area’s potential for economic growth.

The Big Idea:

Year: 2

Neighborhood: Crotona Park East

Borough: Bronx

The Challenge:

The Crotona Park East neighborhood in the Bronx, one of the fastest growing in the city, has a diverse population and a rich, but latent, cultural history – particularly as a live music hub. Southern Boulevard is ripe for change, but poverty, lack of retail continuity, crime, and physical obstacles persist, including vacant lots, unsightly and loud elevated trains, graffiti, and litter.

The Big Idea:

To reactivate open spaces and develop a brand identity for the area, WHEDco proposed to transform its southern corridor with urban design that references the borough’s lost history as a music destination. WHEDco sought to inspire a sense of community and culture in the South Bronx by partnering with the Design Trust for Public Space for the creation of music listening stations under the elevated subway, implementing a neighborhood brand to unify the retail mix, and increasing arts activity along Southern Boulevard.

The Progress:

WHEDco launched the first Boogie Down Booth from July to November 2014 in partnership with the Design Trust for Public Space and the NYC Department of Transportation. The Boogie Down Booth celebrated the rich culture of the Bronx, expressed through music, while responding to area needs. The pilot Boogie Down Booth was installed at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Freeman Street, directly below the 2/5 subway at a busy bus stop and steps from the Bronx Music Heritage Center Laboratory. Soon after the first Bronx music installation, WHEDco worked with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and the Bronx Music Heritage Center to launch a second Boogie Down Booth on Southern Boulevard near 174th Street, outside of Seabury Park.

Quote:

“We know that communities need beautiful public spaces, safe streets, and access to arts and culture to thrive. That’s why the lively, inviting, well-lit, music-filled space created by the Boogie Down Booths can be so transformative for the people and surrounding small businesses in this neighborhood.” — Nancy Bieberman, President and Founder

Press:

Under the Tracks, a Kiosk With a Bronx Beat | New York Times

Booth Delivers Bronx Sounds Under the Din | Wall Street Journal

A Music Booth in the Boogie Down Bronx | WNYC

'Boogie Down Booth' Brings 24/7 Music to Bronx Subway Station | DNAinfo