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Project to Paint Murals on 100 Gates Heads to Staten Island and Harlem

By Nicholas Rizzi | March 21, 2017 3:06pm
 The project, which started in the Lower East Side, will come to Downtown Staten Island and East Harlem.
Project to Paint Murals on 100 Gates Heads to Staten Island and Harlem
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NEW YORK CITY — A project that painted 100 murals on metal storefront gates in the Lower East Side will expand to Downtown Staten Island and East Harlem.

The 100 Gates Project, which completed its final mural in the Lower East Side last year, will partner with businesses in Downtown Staten Island and East Harlem to bring free artwork to their roll-down gates as part of the city's Neighborhood 360 grant program, according to the Department of Small Business Services.

"It worked well in the Lower East Side and we're going to see what it's like in two communities and hopefully they'll be more to come," said Natalie Raben, project director for the Lower East Side Partnership, which helped organized the 100 Gates Project.

"The project is a wonderful tool to combat illegal graffiti and create exposure to local artists."

After getting $140,000 in grant money from the city, the group plans to get artists to paint 50 murals on metal gates in businesses in each area and teamed up with the New Harlem East Merchants Association and Staten Island Arts to connect with locals.

"There's countless murals that I've seen walking around, that's what we want to add on to this project," said Raben. "We want to be a part of what already exists as opposed to the other side."

► READ MORE: Graffiti Map Showcases Staten Island Street Art

The group will mostly focus on businesses along 125th Street and Third Avenue in Harlem and the stretch of Bay Street than runs through St. George, Tompkinsville and Stapleton.

The project started in 2014 by artist and pro-skateboarder Billy Rohan with a plan to get 100 artists to paints gates in front of stores around the Lower East Side to help beautify the neighborhood. He partnered with the Lower East Side Partnership and got a grant from the city to get it off the ground.

The last mural was painted in September by famed street artist L'Amour Supreme on Katz's Deli. Since then, organizers have been looking into taking it outside of the neighborhood, Raben said.

With the Neighborhood 360 grant — which awarded $9 million to spots across the city — the group will be able to hire a full-time staff member to get murals up by June 2018.

As part of the grant program, the city also awarded $1.54 million to the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and Staten Island Arts to improve the commercial strip of Bay Street.

Staten Island Arts plans to use the funds for the second-phase of its multi-year "Future Culture" project aimed to connect the waterfront to neighborhoods.

"We're thrilled about receiving the Neighborhood 360 funds and being part of this cohort locally," said Monica Valenzuela, deputy director of Staten Island Arts. "It is adding support for a project we’ve been working on since 2014."

As part of "Future Culture," the group worked with business owners, artists and others to develop a list of recommendations to improve the neighborhood, and will use the new grant money to start a pilot program for some of them.

Staten Island Arts will host an information session on the recommendations on March 28, where residents can vote on which ones to implement. It will also release them online.

Organizers from 100 Gates will be on hand to give information about the program, Valenzuela said.