The skies clouded over Lou Gehrig Plaza in the Bronx last Friday as motorists and pedestrians traveled along 161st Street. The area’s most famous attraction is Yankee Stadium, of course, but the 161st Street Business Improvement District (BID) is trying to entice both locals and tourists alike to spend time in the plaza just three blocks east of the home of the Bronx Bombers.
Trey Jenkins, the director of the 161st Street BID, has ideas about how to make the spot that overlooks Yankee Stadium “a proper plaza that you see anywhere else in the city.” Drawing on inspiration from Flatiron Plaza in Manhattan and the Dumbo Archway in Brooklyn, he said his vision is to help give the people in the area a comparable public place, something he says the neighborhood deserves.
“It’s a really good space for the public, for the BID, for the people in the neighborhood,” Jenkins told the Bronx Times. “Possibilities are kind of endless.”
Those possibilities became a little more realistically “endless” earlier this month, after the 161st Street BID announced it had received a $175,000 grant from a community design and development network called Local Center, which is a partnership between the Urban Design Forum and the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.
Jenkins came across the grant opportunity in his email inbox and decided to apply for it with the plaza in mind. The 161st Street BID was one of three — the others in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and Sunnyside, Queens — to receive funding through the Local Center for this particular grant.
Jenkins said the first activation idea he has will hopefully be placed in late July or early August — a large shade cover to block the summer sun and heat from events in the space. He said he’s received a lot of feedback from the community about the need for shade in the plaza’s summer months, including at last weekend’s Bronx Night Market. There, Jenkins had renderings of the proposed shaded covering and other designs, and encouraged people to place green stickers on what they want to see in the space.
The 161st Street BID also has a steering committee to address the plaza, and while the meetings don’t include public testimony, Jenkins said the new Bronx Community Board 4 District Manager Thomas Alexander is a member of the committee who brings additional community input.
The Lou Gehrig Plaza spans the length of a whole block on East 161st Street between Walton Avenue and the Grand Concourse and has four large landings — some of them open and some with park benches. It’s been the site of various events and displays already — including the large boom box art installation last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop music’s birth in the Bronx, as well as the site of music festivals, the Bronx Borough President’s 9/11 memorial, the summer solstice music festival, the Bronx Night Market and more.
Jenkins said the shaded structure he’s hoping to install is another step toward a higher quality space.
“I feel really great about it, it’s been a goal of mine to advance the plaza,” he said.
The BID director also said he wants to keep those activations coming to Lou Gehrig Plaza and emphasized the importance for beautification in the area. He said he still hears stereotypes about the neighborhood — like that it’s dangerous — and hopes enhanced community spaces can change those perceptions.
When asked what he thinks is different about the 161st Street BID compared to others in the Bronx and city, he said being in the Yankees’ backyard offers “a unique opportunity to reach other people.”
“[It’s] the most recognized sports brand in the world — I think that’s what makes us unique,” Jenkins said.
He had new ideas to expand programming in the area as well — a holiday market or display and a giant ice sculpture being just two of them.
“I’m always trying to get stuff that catches the eye,” Jenkins said.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
