Common questions we’ve received during our fundraising for the 2025 season are, “Why do you need money?”, “How much does the program cost?” and “What exactly is this to pay for?” There is a lot that goes into making Vanderbilt Open Streets happen — not even counting any of the unpaid volunteer labor — and we want to break this down for those of you who are interested in the details.

In 2023, we had a total budget of approximately $200k. This allowed us to operate 86 days of Open Streets on Vanderbilt Avenue.

In 2024, with funding sources greatly reduced, we had a budget of about $120k. We operated 66 days of Vanderbilt Open Streets and also cut hours. All in all, operating hours were reduced 40% compared to 2023.

For this year, 2025, facing even further funding cuts, we are operating Vanderbilt on Saturdays only — 22 days. This constitutes a 50% reduction in operating hours compared to 2024. Similarly, the budget is down to approximately 60k.

This year’s budget is very bare bones, representing the least we can spend to run the most days while still offering the programming on the Vanderbilt Open Street and Underhill Plaza we know street-goers love. Some of the things these costs cover include:

• Marshal staff: these are the folks who set up the barriers and make the event possible
• Signage and other supplies for safe street operations
• Programming: local artists and entrepreneurs who provide music, workshops and other community events
• Posters, flyers, mailings, and other tools for communication and public outreach

Here is how this all breaks down: