Music program brings Bed-Stuy NYCHA development together
What was still a basketball court in disrepair just over two months ago was transformed Tuesday night and drew a crowd of dozens. Fresh paint, renovated bleachers and a stage equipped with a sound system turned the Bedford-Stuyvesant Tompkins Houses into an impromptu hip-hop concert for the development’s youth.
The Tompkins Houses was one of 15 public housing developments citywide that were targeted by the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety in 2014 where public safety increases have been slower than throughout the rest of the city. A group of Tompkins residents, known as the development’s NeighborhoodSTAT team, proposed renovating the dilapidated basketball court and creating From Blocks to Beats, a program that teaches youth how to make and perform music.
The program celebrated its first graduation Tuesday night, filled with powerful performances before a cheering audience.