We’ve been hinting at it for a while, but now, we’re talking about it officially … Destination Nostrand!  Yes folks, we are going to take on Nostrand Avenue and transform a gnarly, overgrown vacant lot into a Caribbean-away-from the Caribbean oasis for local residents and beyond.

Drawing on Crown Heights’ unique Caribbean heritage, “Destination Nostrand” will be a Caribbean inspired pop-up outdoor café and plaza.  Think sidewalk café, palm trees, umbrellas, cool breeze, fruit smoothies, and jamming tunes. For visitors, it will be a retreat to eat, socialize, shop, and relax.  For participating local businesses, it will be an economic boon. Destination Nostrand shall feature exciting events, food, music, and art exhibits drawing on the local culture. Area merchants specializing in Caribbean items will have an opportunity to set up a table at the plaza to sell goods and merchandise.  The plaza will be located on Nostrand Avenue in Crown Heights.

Now of course, there have been other neighborhoods that have launched their own public spaces programs. But hey, we’re Crown Heights! We’re going to be the best.

Right now we are looking for a few good volunteers to help us launch this project, which will take about 6 months of planning and teamwork.   Among others, we are looking for volunteers to assist with launching Destination Nostrand.  In particular we are looking for:

Assistant Project Manager
Help manage day-to-day operations of new Caribbean-away-from-the-Caribbean plaza in Crown Heights Brooklyn known as “Destination Nostrand”.

Director of Marketing
Develop an entire marketing campaign and concept for an exciting neighborhood development project centered around the theme of “Caribbean-away-from-the-Caribbean”.

Director of Fundraising and Resource Development
Help raise additional funding and resources to launch dynamic Caribbean-away-from-the-Caribbean plaza in Crown Heights Brooklyn.

Director of Design
Create the overall design scheme, including décor, tabling, and horticulture, of the outdoor Caribbean-away-from-the-Caribbean café and plaza.

We have recently been awarded a grant from the mayor’s Dept. of Small Business Services, so this project is definitely going to happen. How big and how big an impact depends on us!  Email us if you are interested in getting involved.

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