Kickstarter project to build a forest in the middle of Times Square could actually happen
The PopUP Forest: Times Square could actually put a forest in the crossroads of the world.
The project's Kickstarter to turn pavement into forest reached its goal of $25,000 on March 30. According to the plan, a forest will appear "overnight" in June 2016 and last approximately three weeks.
It will provide a green meadow with towering trees, wildflowers, shrubs, and ferns giving "visitors an immersive natural area experience in the most un-natural place on the planet."
The project was started by NYC Wildflower Week, which "provides free educational and programming opportunities to engage urbanites with the wilds of the Big Apple," because "New York City is so much more than taxicabs, the Empire State Building, and Jay-Z."
However, that doesn't mean you'll be seeing the planned three-week pop-up forest in the busiest intersection in the world quite yet.
Though many "elected officials, corporations, and philanthropic foundations" are interested in the project according to the Kickstarter, the group must first supply a proof of concept. While the group's ultimate goal is a forest in Times Square, many of the funds from the Kickstarter are first going to a similar project in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, as a test, as well as planning and developing phase 1 of the Times Square installation.
From there, Wildflower's hope is that the Times Square Alliance business development coalition will plan the rest of the project.
After meeting the original goal, the group's new stretch goal of $40,000 will go to expanding the Brooklyn concept into it's own permanent display.