Welling Court - neighborhood

So you might well be asking yourself, "what the hell? Isn't that the street you live on?" The answer is, yes it is. Yes! We're giving ourselves a well deserved pat on the back.

This is indeed the street we live on, and I can say without reservation that it is quite possibly the most sincere neighborhood in NYC if not the entire USA. How do I arrive as such a bold statement? How about this: a few weeks ago we held a block party in celebration of the 40+ internationally recognized artists who came to paint the walls of the neighborhood. The artists came because they were invited by our wonderful  corroborators in this effort Ad Hoc Art Gallery, and permission had been obtained from all the owners of all the wall spaces. The community came because this is were we live together, people of all ethnicity and all backgrounds celebrating our neighborhood. But it was more than that: when the artists began to arrive, individual neighbors from all up and down this small street began to bring them juice and food and ice. They offered paint and donated whatever they could to support the transformation. They stood and watched the progress of individual works. they were inspired. This was a community of people with a uniting common interest: a better more beautiful place to live, and that interest was coming alive right before their eyes.

The artists were moved. The people were moved. The residents of this formerly somewhat forgotten and obscure little neighborhood helped each other to grow that day. The artists came together in that growth as well. Ask any of them.

Everyone here stands just a little taller now, and when we speak of home - that home is not located on a grungy little street tagged with gang-graffiti anymore. It is located on the best street in Astoria, New York. Welling Court.

Evaluation: Extraordinarily sincere! (What else?)
 


Check it out - search the net, "Welling Court Mural Project."