Playground was founded in 2016 as a coffee shop and community space in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
The Bedford Avenue and Quincy location has been in the Begum family for over 20 years, originally serving as her father’s hardware store. As the neighborhood
gentrified, Zenat, a first-generation Bangladeshi-American, envisioned a more equitable space for women and
minority-owned businesses. This vision led to the reopening of the space as
Playground, which also created job
opportunities for young BIPOC
New Yorkers.
featuring DIY, radical literature and art. That same year, Playground Youth was established as a non-profit to expand programming and support the community.
Playground Youth is a community-based organization and
certified 501(c)3 non-profit operating since 2018 out of Playground.
The founding pillars of our organization are rooted in providing our neighborhood with a safe space to exchange art,
cultural knowledge and strategies to build positive lasting social change. We tackle community needs including iteracy, food equity, arts and culture through a range of open-access programs and events for all.