Hatuey Ramos-Fermin and Elizabeth Hamby

This Side of Paradise

Elizabeth Hamby and Hatuey Ramos-Fermín are artists and educators working between the studio, the classroom, and the city. For “This Side of Paradise” the artists have presented IRT, a multi-model installation and public engagement project exploring transportation issues in the Bronx. The project has a variety of interrelated components including a video installation about livery cabs in the Bronx, maps, and interviews.

In collaboration with community-based organizations in the Bronx, the artists will present Boogie Down Rides, a temporary bike shop and public education hub located on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. The shop will be open throughout the month of May and will host a series of educational events, community visioning sessions and group rides. Visitors and community members will be able to rent bikes, get repairs and learn about ongoing cycling projects in the Bronx including the development of greenways and bike paths, as well as initiatives from Greater New York such as bike share. The bike shop will also be a place for community engagement and for members of the public to respond to these initiatives through surveys and participatory workshops. By creating a cycling hub on the Grand Concourse, Boogie Down Rides will increase awareness of cycling as a mode of transportation and recreation, promote safe cycling and bridge existing efforts to expand cycling in the Bronx.