The first weekend in April saw the 34th Avenue, the 1.3 mile open street in Jackson Heights, Queens begin transforming the granite traffic-calming blocks at the head of most streets from uninspiring grey to vivid designs of fun & nature from a diverse group of Queens-based artists who had applied and submitted their ideas in the Fall.

The Alliance for Paseo Park initiated the project nearly a year ago with funding from Council Member Shekar Krishnan and a committee first spent months getting permission from the NYC DOT. They then selected 26 Queens-based artists (many living right along the open street) and over the winter chose a universal color palette each composition had to utilize.

In addition, most of the artists had no experience in painting granite and luckily, shortly after their deployment in 2022, Jackson Heights neighbor Grace Alejandra brought out some paintbrushes and expressed herself on a few of the blocks to beautify the open street. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive and she was recruited as a mentor and advice giver to those needing tips in painting granite.