Community News

Dressing up the downtown

Locals collaborate on street art project destined for Rockaway Avenue

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Village Trustee Vincent Grasso met with volunteer artists on Aug. 22 at the Community Center to create stencils, which will be used to paint artistic crosswalks on village roads along Rockaway Avenue.

The first crosswalks to be painted will be a piano keyboard and both dog and dinosaur footprints, but Grasso said if there is enough support for the idea village officials hope to add similar designs in front of the schools.

Grasso said the idea was a gesture to artists who live in the community, by giving them a way to connect with each other and beautify the downtown area. Local artists are invited to submit ideas and display their talents at additional meetings over the next few weeks.

Once the stencils are finalized, the village board will select locations along the business district to debut the project. Officials are hoping to debut the crosswalks at the Valley Stream Community Fest on Saturday, Sept. 24 — an annual street fair in the downtown area.

In addition to giving community members a reason to collaborate, Grasso said giving the streets a colorful quirk is another installment in the long-term plan to revitalize the village’s business district.

Grasso is planning another meeting at the Community Center in the coming weeks, to continue working on the stencils with local artists. Call (516) 825-8571 for more information about the next meeting.