Let's say you like your neighborhood. A whole bunch, in fact — except for that one building that just drives you crazy. On Midtown's Second Avenue, that one building was the Marcus Market for resident Lauren Padilla. Rather than moan and groan about it, she talked with the owner about painting the property, gathered some friends and family and got the job done.
The paint job that Padilla designed mimics the brick of the majority of the neighboring buildings. Approximately 15 people helped prime and then paint over a weekend earlier this month.
Padilla's roommate, Michael Rohde, helped with the painting and secured reimbursement for the paint from the
University Cultural Center Association. He acknowledges that, while painting a for-profit establishment might not sound like the most philanthropic of tasks, it is still something that improves the neighborhood. "Given that everyone on Second, everyone in that whole area goes there, it meant a little something more." He says, "I think that for us living nearby, it is a big deal. I think just to do a small thing, get people together...and it just made the block look a lot nicer."
Check out
Rohde's slide show for the before and after contrast.
Source: Michael Rohde
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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