Possible visioning narrative

A truck sits parked in the lots under the FDR. On the front is a painted sign that reads "East River Community Truck" and on the back is a blackboard and cork board. The day before, someone wrote "Soccer game in the the park this friday, 3 p.m." and " East River park weeding this Saturday, pick up tools here" on the blackboard.

A woman with a VOLUNTEER shirt approaches the tuck and unlocks it. Another volunteer arrives later and the two of them unfold the sides of the truck outwards into tabletops. On one table they place all sorts of gardening materials: shovels, spades, gloves, and compost. On the other they place fishing gear: tackle, rods, line, and even some bait.

At the water's edge, an elderly man fishes with a friend. The friend asks one of the volunteers in the truck in Mandarin if he can use the fishing supplies. The volunteer says yes, and in return for his ID (or signing an agreement) he rents out his gear for the morning.

The rest of the morning and afternoon, a variety of diverse people with different interests engage with the truck.

A high school student approaches the truck next with an arm full of books. "I'm all finished with these, could I exchange them for some different books?" she asks. The volunteers let her into the truck and she emerges beaming, with an arm full of new books.

A father and son talk to the man who borrowed fishing gear earlier and ask the volunteers if they can borrow some things as well. Pretty soon, the father is teaching the son how to cast a line into the river.

A group of women approach the truck and ask about the gardening supplies. "We have some plots up in front of the apartments over there," one says. "Would it be o.k. if we used these tools to plant some bushes?" The women rent out some shovels and gloves. One of the volunteers strikes up a conversation in Spanish with one of the women because they both live in the same building on the same floor. Soon, the women are headed back to the plots, tools in hand.

A man approaches with a stack of flyers. He is a local community organizer and wants to put a flyer on the cork board for an upcoming event. A volunteer unlocks the case for the bulletin board and he tacks up his flyer: "Meeting to discuss development plans for the waterfront," it says.

At sunset, everyone has returned their supplies and received their IDs back. The volunteers clean up and lock the truck until the next morning.