Harborview Terrace
Nudge Art Installation
Want to join us in realizing this vision? Sign up via the volunteer signup link below!
Co-Created by:
Harborview Terrace Residents under Teaching Artist Laura Alvarez
This Nudge Art installation involves a complete transformation of Harborview Terrace’s outdoor space.Working in partnership with The Public Housing Community Fund and the Harborview Terrace Tenant’s Association, we centered this Nudge Art program around community and belonging. .
After four weeks of Nudge Art workshops and sessions with a small group of resident leaders, this transformative work of Nudge Art began to take shape. Three larger community-based design forums solidified the design and the messages residents wanted the space to reflect. Harborview is a community made up of differing backgrounds and the various murals and projects reflect this diversity and how the residents wanted the space to bring everyone together as one unit and ultimately showcase pride in their home.
The 20,000 foot installation comprises various areas, recreational spaces, and murals. A refurbished basketball court grounds the far side of the park in community-selected bright shades of pink and teal in a dynamic composition. At the center is a medallion painted by local Hell’s Kitchen artist KoolCat. Adjacent to the basketball court is NYCHA’s first pickleball court, a sport enjoyed by Harborview’s older adult population. Revitalized ping-pong tables and newly installed chess tables add more functionality to the space. New seating areas interwoven with planters filled with native foliage turn the area into a much-requested garden. A ramp has also been added to increase accessibility, allowing the space to welcome everyone.
The murals around the space, both on the asphalt and perimeter walls, truly showcase Harborview’s beliefs. The cornerstone message of every Nudge Art mural - “You Belong” - really resonated with the community, particularly in its cultural diversity. The phrase “You Belong” is featured throughout the space, repeated along the walls in languages spoken throughout Harborview. Another large wall consists of the name “Harborview Terrace,” showcasing the pride the residents take in their community. A set of stairs, formerly used by Alvin Ailey dancers for practice performances, is painted as a rainbow. Besides the steps, as an homage to the area’s theatrical past, the largest mural consists of silhouettes of residents engulfed in music notes, creating a kinetic and energetic environment.
Harborview Terrace’s transformation is made by and for the community. The installation is about home, belonging, and sharing these emotions with others. The space is activated by bright colors inviting visitors into Harborview’s home, reminding them that they, too, belong.
Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Interested in seeing more of our Nudge Art murals in NYC?
Brooklyn - Bronx - Gowanus Houses - Manhattan - MAR Houses - Queens - Staten Island - St. Nicholas Houses - Townsend Harris High School - Wagner Houses
Resources
Learn more about Clinton Older Adult Center located at Harborview Terrace!
Clinton Older Adult Center opened in 1969 as a once per week meeting among a small group of seniors in the basement of Sacred Heart Church. In 1973, the Bureau of Purchased Social Services for Adults (BPSSA) provided the seniors with funding to support the development of a senior center within the location. In 1977, the center relocated to a larger space and its existing home within Harborview Terrace, a two-building New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) apartment complex.
In 2019, the center concluded a $2 million multiyear capital improvement project supported by Borough President Gale Brewer, Councilperson Helen Rosenthal, and NYCHA, which beautifully renovated the site’s entry way, ceilings, floors, lighting, restrooms, kitchen, and program spaces.
The center provides freshly prepared meals to members on a first come, first served basis. These hot, nutritious meals can be eaten onsite or taken to go.
To support older New Yorkers in living active, engaging, and independent lives within their communities, we continue to offer an array of online and in-person classes taught by certified instructors and other qualified professionals residing throughout NYC.
Learn more here: Clinton Older Adult Center
Interested in learning more about what you can do to advance gender equality daily?
Check out the 10 genEquality Activations to learn about how you can advocate for and make change through your daily beliefs and behaviors. We share 10 core beliefs and behaviors that you can practice; they touch on social cues and cultural norms, daily communications (language and humor), and economic equality behaviors, choices, and values.
If you want to learn how to be a better bystander, check out these free resources from our friends at Hollaback!:
If you are experiencing, or have experienced, domestic and gender-based violence - help is always available to you.
You can access information and resources to help anyone experiencing dating, domestic, gender-based, or family violence, including elder abuse, by visiting www.nyc.gov/NYCHOPE, or by calling the NYC 24/7 confidential Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-621-HOPE (1-800-621-4673) or TTY 1-866-604-5350.
The Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) Training Team provides engaging, interactive training and technical assistance to support service providers in effectively identifying and responding to clients experiencing domestic and gender-based violence. ENDGBV tailors its trainings to meet organizational/agency staff needs. Read more about the Training Team.
The Healthy Relationship Training Academy provides violence prevention workshops for young people ages 13-24 and staff who work with young people. Please read these FAQs and then request the appropriate Academy workshop(s).
If you are sexually harassed or discriminated against based on a protected category under the Human Rights Law in New York City, please report this to the NYC Commission on Human Rights. Call (212) 416-0197 or fill out an online inquiry form.
The Commission on Human Rights offers a youth leadership development program to identify human rights issues in their communities, develop solutions, and build their leadership skills.