About
The Lot
At KoKo NYC, we pride ourselves in being able to see the potential where others may not – this has become extraordinarily visible with our new space at 440 19th Street!
The Gate
When we first saw the space, we knew it would be perfect for us–it just needed a little cleaning up. We began by picking up the trash that filled the lot–there was a lot of refuse from people throwing their litter over the fence into the brush. We believe trash is treasure, but we also love the environment. Litter needs to be disposed of properly!
The Clean-Up
The next problem was all the overgrown weeds. Once we began removing them, we discovered poison ivy, so we decided to call in some help. Brian brought in a Bobcat to clear everything out, level the ground, and move the boulders that sat in the way of the entrance. These boulders now grace the play space for our youngest campers. To keep the weeds out long-term, we covered the ground with mulch donated by Green-Wood Cemetery–three truckloads worth!
While there was a lot that needed to be cleared out and removed, several important things had to stay: the fruit trees. In Orthodox Judaism, there is a strong aversion to chopping down fruit trees. That means that all the mulberry trees had to stay–volunteers used pallets to build fences around these trees and had plenty of mulberries to snack on while doing so!
The Building
Once everything was cleaned up and cleared out, it was time for the fun part: building!
But first we had to figure out how things should be organized. Ade from New Project helped us plan the space. Mini Destroy + Construct began on June 20, so that would need to be built out first. We were cautious to leave many natural areas, balancing our work spaces with the nature that already exists. Several platforms were built with a tree in the middle.
We hosted two weekends of community work days. People stopped by to help and drop off materials. We took all the wood we could get–plywood was donated by New Project and Interstate Plywood, while pallets were collected from Home Depot and wherever we could find it!
The new lot energized the whole community. Every neighbor who walks by wants to help by either building or donating materials!
We also began our wheel collection for Soap Box Camp–all those soap box cars require lots of wheels! Special thanks to Sandra from Adapt Ability and Karen Overton for the wheels! We are still collecting–please let us know if you have any you’d like to donate!
Next we brought in the Tiny House. The Tiny House provides storage for Mini Destroy + Construct. Additionally, the solar panels installed on the roof provide enough power to charge our tools most of the time.
Thank You
Thank you to all who helped: Paul and Henry Distelzwieg, Simon Kahn, Joseph Silovsky, Jesse Beacom, Ade Sanya, Craig Diamond, Brian from MBJ Cleanout, Ellie Efrat, Clara O’Malley, Miho Suzuki, Barbara Wuehrer, Kate Vance, Daniel Aycock, AnnMarie Coughlin, Sean Coughlin-Salameh