The Renaissance Pavilion at Strivers Row

Community Engagement, Economic Developent, Corridor Activation

The disproportionate impact the global Pandemic has had on black communities and black-owned businesses around the country have resulted in over 40% of black-owned businesses closed since the onset of COVID19.  With the hospitality industry overall as one of the hardest-hit sectors during the pandemic, black hospitality businesses have fared the worst.  More support was needed for black-owned restaurants as they struggled to recover with increasing restrictions to indoor dining due to rising COVID19 rates, and colder temperatures impacting outdoor dining. 

In response to the support needed for black-owned restaurants, Uber Eats developed an innovative national model that included providing weatherized outdoor seating for black-owned restaurants in select markets around the country. Through a strategic partnership with marketing and business development strategist Nikoa Evans, BNP Advisory Group, and other community based organizations, Uber Eats launched the pilot for this national program in Harlem, NY.

The Renaissance Pavilion at Strivers’ Row presented by UberEatsand produced in partnership with WXY Architecture + Urban Design, was launched in December 2020. The program offered a 360-degree approach to supporting black-owned restaurants in need by providing architecturally designed weatherized outdoor seating featuring original artwork and showcasing several of the Harlem based artists who created the BLM Harlem Mural. The support also included 5 months of programming developed by Harlem Park to Park and community partners.

Winner of Interior Design Magazine’s NYCxDESIGN Awards 2021 for Outdoor Dining, this large scale community engagement and economic development effort included thirty two (32) companies working in collaboration for 60 days to create a safe outdoor dining environment in NYC featuring winterized seating areas for black-owned restaurants and a public fine art exhibit.  Twenty-six (26) of the companies or 85% of the team represented black-owned businesses.  The Renaissance Pavilion at Strivers’ Row initiative now serves as a new national economic development model for corporate and community strategic partnerships and stakeholder engagement to rebuild black communities and communities of color around the country.