The Van Alen Institute, in collaboration with the Urban Design Forum, has launched Neighborhoods Now, a new initiative that connects four New York neighborhoods heavily impacted by COVID-19 with four leading design firms to collaborate and develop safe and effective reopening strategIes.

In a statement announcing the new pursuit, Van Alen Institute writes:

"In New York City and across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color. This crisis threatens to shutter small businesses and expand the racial wealth gap in neighborhoods that already lack access to resources and capital as a result of long-term structural inequity and racism. In response, and in a move to channel the talent of New York’s top design firms into these communities’ recovery, the Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute have launched Neighborhoods Now."

Through experimentation and collaboration, working groups from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn; Jackson Heights,Queens; Kingsbridge, Bronx; and Washington Heights, Manhattan will all develop solutions for shared gathering spaces in their respective neighborhoods. Van Alen says this could include restaurants, storefronts, civic and cultural organizations, parks, and streets.

Arup, COOKFOX, KPF, and Moody Nolan all are serving as coordinating design firms along with a number of other supporting and collaborating practices.