Central Park may have the Great Lawn but Lincoln Center is about to get its own green lawn, of the synthetic variety. Lincoln Center is positively progressive.

Beyond the exciting early completion of the David Geffen Hall (by nearly two years!), Lincoln Center will experience one of the city’s coolest transformations of the summer. On May 10th, the 14,000 square-foot central plaza, known as the Josie Robertson Plaza, will turn into a green pasture of performance. 

Lincoln Center commissioned Mimi Lien, a set designer and MacArthur Genius grantee, to reimagine the space as part of their Restart Stages initiative, an outdoor performing arts center with 10 outdoor performance and rehearsal spaces, all part of their effort to revive New York City.

Lien said in a statement, “I wanted to make a place where you could lie on a grassy slope and read a book all afternoon. Get a coffee and sit in the sun. Bring your babies and frolic in the grass. Have a picnic lunch with coworkers.” She added, “Like a town green, a place to gather.”

“The GREEN” will be constructed of recyclable, biobased SYNLawn, provided by SYNLawn New York. Unlike traditional astroturf, the grass-like material has a high soy content sourced from U.S. farmers. 

Adding good to good, after September, SYNLawn New York will upcycle “The GREEN” material to playgrounds for at-risk youth in upstate New York.

The GREEN will also have a small snack bar and have a small library of books available for borrowing. Additionally, the designers adhered to accessibility guidelines by incorporating ramps and cane detection for people who are blind or have low vision.