Over the next five years, sidewalks on and around campus will see more than 120 new tree beds, 110 safety planters and 100 shade trees as part of a local effort to spruce up the area. The $2 million project is partially funded by NYU and seeks to boost pedestrian traffic for businesses in the Village.
Project Green is led by Village Alliance, a not-for-profit that aims to bolster local business. As the group’s first full-scale streetscape initiative in over 20 years, the project will create small green spaces, particularly along Eighth Street between University Place and Fifth Avenue. Arlene Peralta-Avila, NYU’s assistant vice president of community engagement, said in a statement that the initiative was “a vital investment in environmental sustainability.”
“The project also enhances our shared public spaces, helping to transform them into more vibrant and inviting streetscapes that we can all enjoy,” Peralta-Avila wrote. “For all these reasons, NYU is a very proud supporter of this important initiative.”
Village Alliance’s Executive Director Scott Hobbs told WSN that Project Green was “catalyzed” by NYU and aims to cost-effectively improve public spaces in Greenwich Village. Project Green was inspired by the organization’s 2025 District Needs Report, which revealed an abundance of outdated tree beds, unchecked illegal parking in pedestrian zones and lack of greenery in the area.
The project received $150,000 from 27th district New York State Senator Brian Kavanagh, who said he wanted to ensure that “residents and visitors will continue to enjoy this iconic neighborhood.” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine also committed $100,000 to the initiative last month. An NYU spokesperson did not specify how much the university has contributed to the project.
Hobbs added that because nearly four out of five establishments in the neighborhood are small businesses, they struggle to finance the project on their own. To compensate, city agencies including the Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of Transportation contributed to the initiative, alongside larger local businesses including The Public Theater and property management company Buchbinder & Warren.
“Because our organization is funded from small businesses, we don’t have the capital of some of these business and river districts that have office buildings that can pay a lot more,” Hobbs said. “We needed to get creative because we can’t put this cost on them.”
Efforts to improve the neighborhood also include enhancing community safety. In March, NYU joined the Village Interagency Task Force, led by Mayor Eric Adams’ Community Link initiative, to address safety concerns related to quality-of-life issues in Washington Square Park.
Village Alliance is the Business Improvement District for the blocks spanning Fourth to 12th Street and Sixth to Second Avenue. It works to upkeep public areas, conduct annual reports on local market trends and retail opportunities and develop initiatives to support local businesses, such as Project Green.
“What we would like to happen is for it to be affordable,” Hobbs said. “We’re trying to do this with as minimal pain to the small businesses as possible.”
Contact Alessa Alluin at [email protected].