DOT representatives, elected officials and community leaders gathered in Long Island City Monday morning to cut the ribbon on a new public plaza providing outdoor open space for students at LaGuardia Community College.
The 29th Street Plaza, which is located on a now-pedestrianized portion of 29th Street between Thomson and Skillman Avenues, is situated adjacent to LaGuardia’s Building C at 29-10 Thomson Ave. and features one of the largest asphalt murals in New York City – designed by LaGuardia fine arts student Fernanda Contreras.
Contreras’s “Keepin’ it Moving” features a colorful blend walking signals that help celebrate the city’s walkability and the subway lines that run through Long Island City, with references to the 7, E, F, G and N/R/W lines.
In addition to the colorful mural covering the entirety of the new plaza, the newly-converted street includes tables and chairs, a bike corral for students to safely park their bikes and space for community events.
DOT commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, Council Member Julie Won, Assembly Member Claire Valdez and LaGuardia President Kenneth Adams joined students and members of the local community Oct. 6 to celebrate the opening of the 29th Street Plaza, which Adams said will finally deliver a safe outdoor space for LaGuardia students.
Monday’s ribbon-cutting also served as the official launch of DOT’s “Trick or Street” initiative, which aims to provide a safe, car-free space for trick-or-treating through Open Streets, public plazas and other corridors throughout the city.
LaGuardia’s new plaza, measuring over 17,000 square feet, will allow the college to host a number of outdoor cultural events, with a Hispanic Heritage Month Closing Street Party scheduled for Oct. 15 and a Halloween Trick or Street celebration planned for Oct. 29.
Adams noted that LaGuardia opened in 1971 with the renovation of four old factory buildings and said the college has “worked fine” over the past half-century. However, he further noted that students had no outdoor space to hang out during breaks or after class.
“In terms of a space where we can have community events, where we can do things with the Long Island City community, where we can have celebrations and festivals – we had nothing like that until today,” Adams said at Monday’s ribbon-cutting.
He added that students previously had little access to outdoor space before the opening of the new plaza and said students were often restricted to a small interior courtyard during periods of fine weather.
“It (the plaza) is really wonderful for our students,” Adams said.
Won, meanwhile, said the new plaza would help provide a “full campus” life to LaGuardia students in addition to providing a physical space that allows students to “build a community” on the college grounds.
She said students previously had “nowhere to sit” if they bought food from a local food vendor and said the plaza will also cater to students at the nearby Aviation High School.
“This (29th Street) was only a busy road next to many busy roads in an industrial area with nowhere to eat,” Won said Monday. “Thank God for the street vendors out here who give us the delicious food but there was nowhere to sit, even if you got a dish, nowhere to hang out with your friends, other than inside, when it’s beautiful out.”
Valdez said it was a “huge accomplishment” to reclaim 29th Street and convert it into a pedestrian plaza for LaGuardia students. She also praised Contreras for her mural, which stretches the entire length of the new plaza.
“Public space belongs to everyone, and everyone deserves access to beauty and to arts, and this space is exactly that,” Valdez said. “Just look around at how many people are gathered here to celebrate this, how many people are able to stand and gather safely because this street is now closed. It is now open to the public, and there’s a beautiful thing.”
Contreras, who grew up in nearby Woodside, said it is “surreal” to see her vision come to life but said it is equally special that a piece of her artwork will become a fabric of the local community.
“To have this here as a little part of me whenever I leave town or whenever I’m not here is really, really special to me,” Contreras said.
Community Board 2 Chair Anatole Ashraf, a LaGuardia Community College alumnus, said CB2 wholeheartedly supported the drive to create more public space surrounding the college and described Monday’s ribbon-cutting as a “really great moment” for the local community.
“Where was this when I was studying here?” Ashraf said.
The new plaza initially began as an Open Street in 2022 when LaGuardia began piloting the space as a pop-up location for outdoor programming. Adams later invited Rodriguez and the DOT to the college in January 2024 to showcase how the space could be transformed into a permanently pedestrianized plaza catering to students.
Monday’s ribbon-cutting also featured a number of music and dance performances to welcome the new plaza, including a performance from the Honk Family Band and a dance performance by Ayazamana Ecuadorian Dance Group.
Rodriguez said the DOT has now installed over 90 public plazas across the city over the past four years and added that pedestrianized plazas have become “critical” to life in New York City.
“When we build plazas, we build communities that are stronger,” Rodriguez said Monday. “Public spaces bring people together at a time when, unfortunately, the city and the nation sees so much division.”
He said the 29th Street Plaza now offers a “destination” for people to come together and celebrate the local LIC community in a new open space.
He also welcomed the return of the Trick-or-Streets initiative and said the program would be held on a record 137 car-free corridors across the city throughout October.
From Oct. 17 to Oct. 31, corridors across the city will close to car traffic to provide families and children with access to a safe space to go trick-or-treating.
Trick-or-Streets, returning for the fourth year, will feature live music, interactive performances and family-friendly activities in locations across the five boroughs.
“Throughout the month of October, NYC DOT’s fourth annual Trick-or-Streets program will bring seasonal events to plazas and Open Streets, just like 29th Street Plaza, to bring joy, culture, and greater safety for New Yorkers of all ages and abilities to celebrate the Halloween season,” Rodriguez said in a statement issued later on Monday.
