Seward Lane

The Hester Street lot used to be derelict and closed; Essex Street used to be sketchy. SPBuzz advocated for the sort of neighborhood revitalization that ultimately came to that area. We can do it again.

When I started this website in 2004, I had visions of the then-closed-off Hester Street lot. At the time, I wrote:

Our Hester Street Property is more than just a paved lot between two fences. This property connects us to the commerce of Hester, Essex, and Canal Streets. Essex Street is certainly not the most attractive destination these days... but connecting to it could contribute to the vitalization of our neighborhood — our patronage can encourage businesses that appeal to our community, and thereby expand our commercial "sphere of influence" beyond our own Grand and Clinton Street stores. This can lead to better local services, a hipper neighborhood, better success for our commercial tenants, and better quality of life for all of us.

Since that time, we did open up our Hester Street lot. And to my delight, we also got the city to open the also-long-closed Essex Street gates that stunted the use of Seward Park (the park, not the co-op). The result has been a rennaissance — Essex Street has become a destination, businesses on the adjoining streets are flourishing, Dimes Square is a phenomenon, and our neighborhood has so much more to offer!

In my view, we have another opportunity to revitalize our neighborhood — the strip I will refer to as "Seward Lane", that runs behind Building #3 alongside the Seward Park Library. There isn't a whole city park to revitalize, so the scale is much smaller... But the impact to our neighbors and neighborhood can still be significant.

For the most part, the greatest attractions in our neighborhood are north and west of us. A (very) informal survey of Building #4 neighbors I know suggests that they very rarely wander to the stores and restaurants on East Broadway and further south. Aside from the draw of those other neighborhoods:

• There are notably few thriving businesses on East Broadway and points south.
• The businesses that are there — especially further south, are increasingly shoddy
• The flow of our property doesn't naturally put residents of Building #4 in particular in that part of our neighborhood!

Seward Lane is at present an extremely under-utilized, gated off, and all-but invisible portion of our property, but it provides the key to connecting neighbors circulating in the couryard, or who live in Building #4 to flow south for a change! And increased circulation of people through that neighborhood will naturally help the businesses there succeed, and new businesses establish who can suit our needs.

Aside from the walkway, this area is lovely and should be adorned with chairs or benches... and beyond that... I wonder if somehow our community can get involved in planing / painting murals on those library walls!

For security, I envision a gate similar to what we have at Hester Street.

This is not a complicated project. The only constraint is that we'd want the walkway to run near the library... so any renovation we do to the grounds now should recognize this as a future (if not present) possibility.