City Labs Students Meet with Village of Hastings on Hudson

The Westchester Innovation Network’s (WIN) City Labs initiative is partnering with the Village of Hastings on Hudson and Iona University’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation on a design-thinking project. The kickoff for the Iona University (Hynes Institute) design-thinking class’s City Labs project with the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, was held Monday, October 5.

Village Manager Mary Beth Murphy briefed the students on local issues that the students might focus on.

Dr. Christoph Winkler, Founding Director of the Hynes Institute, presented an overview of the BCW/Iona City Labs partnership, which is now in its fifth year. Through the program, Iona University students have worked directly with 10 municipalities to address real-world community challenges and develop innovative solutions that support local priorities and economic development. He described it as students learning “outside the lines,” with the community serving as a laboratory, and he reminded the students that they are representing the university.

Dr. Aakash Sapru, Assistant Professor of Hynes Institute, who teaches the class, explained the design-thinking approach. Students go into the community to understand a problem from several angles (government, residents, businesses) and design solutions “with the community, not just for them.” The semester will end with prototypes the village could actually use.

“The larger mission here is for our students to get hands-on experience with real projects. Oftentimes, university education can become very abstract. At the Heinz Institute, when we focus on entrepreneurship, which is a very hands-on field, our goal is always to give our students experiential learning. The idea is that instead of just somehow coming up with ideas sitting inside a classroom, you actually go into the community, talk to people, and understand problems from various angles,” said Dr. Sapru.

Village Manager Murphy said communication and public buy-in are critical in government. If residents don’t feel an idea came from them, they tend to reject it out of hand. She also made a pitch for students from any major to consider careers in government. The meeting discussed three potential projects:

Public participation for the NY Forward grant.

NY Forward is a state grant of about $4.5M for economic development and housing. The state is expected to announce the round in December, with applications due around February. The village already has its own project ideas: improvements to VFW Plaza, a tiered Fulton Park by the train station, storefront revitalization, parking lot upgrades, and a donated sculptor’s studio near the Old Croton Aqueduct that needs repair. What it lacks is a good way to find private, commercial, and housing projects from businesses, developers, and residents, which is an important part of the application.

Pedestrian safety prioritization.

Murphy said pedestrian safety is the new mayor’s top priority. Farragut Avenue and Broadway meet near the Middle/High School, and the village gets a steady stream of resident requests for crosswalks and stop signs. Each crosswalk can cost over $100K.  The Village wants an objective framework for ranking requests rather than “the loudest voice wins.” Murphy compared this to the Village’s road assessment study, where an engineer scores and ranks roads. A mid-block crosswalk at the Main Street community center is already planned.

MacEachron Waterfront Park fundraising.

The park, which is located in front of Harvest Restaurant, is eroding into the Hudson River. Atlantic Richfield is funding the stabilization, the raised grade, and a new path as part of the broader contaminated-site cleanup. The Village would like to sell engraved pavers for the path, but municipalities can’t legally fundraise. The students’ task would be to design a compliant model, such as working through a partner organization.

The class will draft a problem statement by the end of next week and share it with the village for input on scope.