Attendees gather around tables at Street Works Earth at Connected Chef in Woodside on Sept. 27, 2026. The annual climate and arts festival moved indoors after forecasts of a nor’easter forced organizers to abandon plans to hold the event on the 34th Avenue Open Street in Jackson Heights. (Credit: Daniel Rivero Alvarez)
An annual Jackson Heights climate and arts festival built around public space moved indoors on Sept. 27 as forecasts of a nor’easter forced organizers to rethink an event designed for the street.
Inside, visitors placed sticky notes on an Every Electric board comparing their summer electric bills and number of air conditioners. Baskets of potatoes, peppers, onions and other produce for sale sat on a table, near a clothing swap and displays for participating groups. Bomba Block performed at one end of the space.
Street Works Earth, a climate and arts festival featuring a sustainable fashion show, performances and environmental programming, was originally scheduled for Sept. 20 but was postponed because of rain. With another storm threatening the festival’s Sept. 27 rain date, organizers moved the event from the 34th Avenue Open Street in Jackson Heights to Connected Chef, a community space in Woodside. The event was held on the final day of Climate Week NYC.
Anjali Deshmukh, a Street Works organizer, said she texted Liz Alvarez, Connected Chef’s programs and special events director, as the forecast worsened. Within about two hours, Alvarez offered Connected Chef’s indoor space, which opens onto the street through a roll-up garage door. Street Works decided to move the festival there.
“We are called Street Works for a reason,” Deshmukh said. Public space, she said, is “the ultimate shared infrastructure” for the group’s work.
Organizers had planned for about 62 participating organizations and artists outdoors. At Connected Chef, some groups doubled up at tables, while others dropped out. Participants included WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Queens Public Library. About 33 organizations and artists ultimately participated, according to Deshmukh.
The move required other adjustments. Plans for a sustainable fashion show changed several times in the weeks leading up to the festival. Street Works had announced 45 designs beforehand, though about 30 models and designers, including Hahnji Jang, Nick Portello, Reis Becker and first-place winner Giselle Vasquez, still participated, said Eva Lau, the festival’s stage manager and set designer.
Rebecca Lucher, a Jackson Heights resident who works with the arts-based environmental nonprofit City as Living Laboratory, shared a table at the festival. She said she discovered Street Works last year simply by coming across it on the street.
Her organization works with artists and residents in Corona around the Corona Cloudburst Hub, a city project designed to reduce flooding during intense rainstorms, using rain gardens, porous pavement and underground storage to capture stormwater before it overwhelms the sewer system.
“I know the power of this,” Lucher said, recalling how many people the outdoor event attracted last year. But with the inclement weather, she added, “the people who really need these resources are probably stuck inside … dealing with … the flooding.”
About 700 people attended this year’s festival, compared with approximately 6,000 who encountered it on 34th Avenue last year, according to Deshmukh.
Jessica González-Rojas, a state assembly member whose district includes Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst, also attended. She said East Elmhurst has been particularly vulnerable to flooding and recalled seeing the damage in her district after the remnants of Hurricane Ida struck the city in 2021. Thirteen New Yorkers died during Ida’s flash flooding, nearly all in basement or cellar spaces, according to the city’s Hurricane Ida Action Plan.
González-Rojas spoke at the festival about flooding and climate policy, while organizations offered information on environmental issues and other community resources.
“I’m really invested in making sure community members in my district are able to get resources that they need to prepare, to learn about ways to get involved,” González-Rojas said. “And this is amazing, both blending art and … organizing and resource provision in one space.”
The fashion show ended with models and designers gathering for a group photo. Outside Connected Chef’s open garage door, rain continued to fall.