NEW YORK, NY.- The Garment District Alliance held a ceremony to commemorate the official start of ‘Garment District Urban Garden,’ an expanded plazas program that converts two blocks of Broadway into public space featuring an array of amenities and activities for New Yorkers and visitors alike to enjoy this summer. The reception also celebrated the unveiling of Sew and Sew, an art installation composed of cultural designs on Broadway that honor the Garment District’s rich history and community.

“’Garment District Urban Garden’ has enabled us to provide more summer activations than ever before, transforming the pedestrian experience along Broadway,” said Barbara A. Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance. “From the spectacular road tattoo mural created by the tremendously talented Steed Taylor, to the UrbanSpace Garment District food market, and the various new amenities, this expanded summer plazas program truly enhances the area and creates a wonderful space for all to enjoy.”

‘Garment District Urban Garden’ provides additional space for New Yorkers to experience a variety of summer programming in the heart of the Garment District along Broadway. The blocks that have been converted into public space are 36th – 37th Streets and 39th – 40th Streets. The expanded summer plazas program features new café tables and chairs, planters, birch trees, turf boxes and more, as well as the wildly popular UrbanSpace Garment District food market, the new 400-foot-long Sew and Sew art installation, and a free pop-up lemonade stand every Wednesday during lunchtime.

The community joined the artist, the Garment District Alliance, Manhattan Borough Commissioner Luis Sanchez and officials from the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) for a special reception celebrating the opening of Garment District Urban Garden and the dedication of Sew and Sew.

Artist Steed Taylor began painting Sew and Sew on Broadway on June 13th, and completed the mural at the ceremony by painting the names of individuals who have worked in the Garment District for more than 20 years, and have helped shape the fabric of this neighborhood. Sew and Sew occupies the Garment District expanded pedestrian plazas on Broadway from 36th to 40th Streets through Labor Day weekend.

Sew and Sew is part of Taylor’s ‘road tattoo’ concept, which pays homage to communities and explores the idea of a road being considered the skin of a community; as individuals mark their skin as a means of commemoration, communication or ritual, a road can be marked for the same reason.

The installation is part of Garment District Art on the Plazas, a year-round public art program made possible through Arterventions, part of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Art Program. The Garment District Alliance and DOT work closely to coordinate the exhibit and install the pieces, which enhance the public plazas and make them even more welcoming to New Yorkers and visitors alike.

“DOT Art’s partnership with the Garment District Alliance will allow New Yorkers and visitors alike to enjoy on-the-ground “road tattoo” by Steed Taylor, beautiful public art that is both unique and striking,” said Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “For the next few months, we encourage everyone to enjoy this art while they explore even more of Broadway on foot and on bike. Over the last decade, DOT has converted more than twenty football fields’ worth of streets Citywide into pedestrian plazas, and so we are happy to wrestle even more of Midtown Manhattan’s busiest public spaces away from the automobile.”