By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — After a seven-year wait, an Upper West Side school is getting a $500,000 fence covered with plants.
The living and breathing fence will replace a chainlink fence that currently surrounds the IS44 schoolyard on Columbus Avenue between West 76th and 77th Streets.
“We are thrilled that this is finally coming to fruition,” says Barbara Adler, executive director of the Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District, which proposed the idea. “The fence has gone through so many iterations over the years and this sustainable green fence will really make a great difference on the Columbus Avenue streetscape."
Funding for a sustainable fence made green by foliage growing vertically up the facade has been secured by New York State Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal on behalf of the BID.
The 15-foot green fence has been in the pipeline for more than seven years and will cost half a million dollars. Rosenthal secured $350,000 for the fence in addition to finances raised during Columbus Avenue BID events, such as the New Taste of the Upper West Side.
The BID is hopeful that the fence will be built this summer.
