See the massive public lawn that has taken over Lincoln Center’s famous plaza

The Lincoln Center’s famed Josie Robertson Plaza has been transformed into a huge green space for the public. Designed by set designer Mimi Lien, the public installation, called “The Green” officially opened on Monday as a place for New Yorkers to lounge, borrow a book from the New York Public Library, and even enjoy pop-up performances hosted by the institution. The Green is the centerpiece of Lincoln Center’s “Restart Stages” initiative, which converted the 16-acre campus into 10 new outdoor performance venues last month.

The Green measures 14,000 square feet and features “grass-like recyclable, biobased SYNLawn material,” fully sourced from U.S. farmers. When Restart Stages ends, SYNLawn New York will upcycle the lawn material for use on playgrounds for at-risk youth in upstate New York.

“When invited to consider how the physical space of Josie Robertson Plaza could be re-envisioned to be a more inclusive and inviting environment, I immediately thought that by changing the ground surface from hard paving stones with no seating to a material like grass, suddenly anyone would be able to sit anywhere,” Mimi Lien said in a previous statement.

“I hope that this curved grass surface will feel like an embrace and an expanse at the same time, and will reimagine the Plaza as a site of social infrastructure, like a town green – a place to gather, a common ground.”

The Green will be open every day through September, starting at 8 a.m. and closing after the final evening “Restart Stages” performance.

First announced in March, the “Restart Stages” was developed alongside the state’s NYPopsUp initiative, a plan from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to revive arts and culture across the state with hundreds of outdoor pop-up events and performances.

Outdoor venues at Lincoln Center include a “cabaret-style” stage on Hearst Plaza, a family area with art activities for children, rehearsal space open to the public, space for public school graduations, a canteen, and space to check out books from the NYPL. In total, there will be 150 free or low-cost performances throughout the duration of the program.

Free tickets to the performances will be made available through the TodayTix Lottery, which will open for entries two weeks before each performance. You can see the full schedule of events here.

Editor’s note: The original version of this story was published on April 13, 2021, and has been updated with new images and information. 

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All photos © Sachyn Mital, courtesy of Lincoln Center