Downtown ROCs

Last weekend we restored four Victorian-style park benches by sanding, staining and painting them (check out those glossy black arms 😎). Today, two of those benches were placed in their new homes in downtown's St. Paul Quarter, further enhancing this burgeoning residential and restaurant district.

You can't build a walkable city without places to stop and rest. So we will continue to revitalize and repurpose benches for return to the public realm. If you would like to support our efforts by sponsoring a bench restoration, just give us a shout.

August is not a great time for planting new flowers, so we're turning our attention to several other projects, including this effort to reclaim and restore 4 park benches. These benches were in storage due to their weathered condition.

Thank you to downtown resident Mario Howell for once again helping with these restorations. The process involves sanding, staining and sealing each bench, as well as painting the iron arms a glossy black.

Next week these handsome benches will be returned to their useful purposes downtown with the help of the City of Rochester, NY's Department of Environmental Services (DES).

Every month we publish a brief update highlighting our efforts to clean and beautify downtown Rochester. This update is available via email and as a blog post (linked here).

If you'd like to receive our newsletter directly to your inbox, just email us at [email protected] 📩

In the meantime, please enjoy our July edition...

Downtown ROCs July 2026 Update What we were up to this July in Downtown Rochester

The team at B+Healthy Fresh Food Market on Franklin Street downtown are some of the friendliest folks you’ll meet. So it was our pleasure yesterday to bring just little more color and sunshine to their already welcoming storefront.

This was a fun project yesterday. You could call it "The Leftovers", because we were able to utilize 19 flowers that were extras from earlier projects and were still in pots waiting for a home.

We get a special satisfaction from finding ways to purpose every last plant, and this menagerie includes 9 different varieties we might not otherwise mix together. So we can't wait to see how they coexist within the metal tree guard we wrapped around them. 🌺

Today we (belatedly) welcomed Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School to downtown Rochester by planting flowers outside their entrance at the corner of East Ave and Main St.

As you'll see in the pictures, it didn't take long for both a praying mantis and a bee to take a shine to these delectable new additions.

“The earth laughs in flowers"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today we placed another pair of planters outside a downtown Rochester building. These now grace the entrance to the historic Temple Building on Franklin St.

Every flower we place in a tree well, planter or garden is an expression of our belief in the city and its people. It’s a tangible and visible vote of confidence in its future… and its potential!

Amazing what a difference a month can make!