Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture
New York Gardens
Threatened With Destruction!
As you read down this page, you will find a variety of information which describes the ongoing situation in New York.
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 87 - October 28, 2002 - East Coast Greenway Celebration
THE GARDEN SETTLEMENT IN CONTEXT
Both Attorney General Spitzer (AG) and the Mayor share credit for the recent settlement that will preserve up to 200 more community gardens in NYC. The AG clearly understood and appreciated the value of the gardens and did not buckle under pressure from some "important" politically connected interest$. Mayor Bloomberg's role was more nuanced. His goal was to lift the AG's embargo against garden destruction, for fear of losing federal aid for housing construction. He was an adversary on this issue, but unlike his predecessor a fair one, who worked for compromise, recognizing that community gardeners had a legitimate interest in the outcome.
The settlement will not end the long struggle for community garden legitimacy in NYC. Two hundred gardens are still threatened. The Parks Department parameters for acquisition of gardens will be selective and the continued interest in acquiring land and organization building by the city's land trusts is not assured. Many City Council members seem to believe that after the settlement, they have no role to play in the continuing struggle. There are yet no plans to introduce legislation to strengthen the gardener's hands in the coming negotiations or provide a mechanism for the creation of new community gardens. (More on community gardening below.)ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
U r b a n O u t d o o r s No. 86 - September 18, 2002 - Transportation and Public Space
COMMUNITY GARDEN LAWSUIT SETTLED SAVES APPROX 200 MORE GARDENS, 38 DOOMED, OTHERS STILL IN LIMBO
Today Attorney General Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg announced a negotiated settlement to a Three year-old lawsuit that had temporarily stopped the destruction of NYC community gardens. The Mayor agreed to preserve approximately 200 gardens in addition to those already granted permanent status. 38 gardens, in advanced stages in the development process will be bulldozed without additional delay. About 200 other gardens remain in limbo, but with some additional protections. The newly preserved gardens will be offered to NYC Parks or land trusts.
“The settlement provides very important new rights to gardeners.” Chris Amato of Mr. Spitzer's office told a hastily arranged briefing. “They include a garden review process that most gardens will have to go through before they can be developed and the legal right to go to court to see that this agreement is adhered to.” Community gardeners have often been denied legal standing by local courts. “Community Gardens will no longer be called empty lots”
The success of the “Garden Review Process” depends on the fairness and good faith of city officials in carrying out the review and making recommendations that include interests other than sale to developers. Details as to whom or what agencies would be included in this new process, or the extent of outreach to gardeners is not known at this time. What is known is that the battle for the gardens is not over. The hard work is just beginning. For additional information, links and things you can do to help preserve gardens visit www.treebranch.net.
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 82 - May 1, 2002 - Bringing People to Place in NYC
COMMISSIONER: KEEP YOUR GARDEN GATES OPENCOMMISSIONER: KEEP YOUR GARDEN GATES OPEN
"If you want me to help you to make community gardens permanent, post a sign with open hours and keep those hours… and I don’t mean just a few hours a week." With that challenge issued by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to approximately 1000 gardeners at the GreenThumb GrowTogether, the new city administration made its first position on community garden preservation known. Commissioner Benepe was expressing concerns that closed garden gates give the wrong message about the nature of public spaces.
Although the community gardens are volunteer-operated, the gardeners have a responsibility to all the City's residents to post and provide public access to its gardens. Most of the fifty or so Parks Department gardens are believed to be in compliance with this responsibility. The situation is complicated by some gardens that are owned by private land trusts and “still threatened gardens” that have not yet reached a level of development that allows for extensive opening.
THE STATUS OF COMMUNITY GARDENING
Over 400 gardens are still threatened in NYC, as the City’s Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) agency still has control of the spaces and plans to build on many of them. Since February 2000, construction has been blocked by a court temporary restraining order against bulldozing gardens, the result of a lawsuit filed by the NYS Attorney General. The Green Guerillas (GG’s) lawsuit, filed in the hope of tagging the city with violation of process in garden demolition, was dismissed last month by the judge who will rule on the NYS Attorney General’s suit. GG’s is discussing a possible appeal to a higher court. As of now, community gardens preservation legislation has not been introduced in the new City Council.
Mayor Bloomberg recently announced an effort to clear up the backlog of lawsuits against the City left over from the Giuliani administration. An article in The NY Times (April 26) indicated that the City has made a proposal that calls for the development of some gardens and the sale of others to a land trust. There is no indication that a reasonable and fair review process has been proposed to decide which gardens live and which do not. If a quick deal is made it will surely not be well thought out, but quickly done just to get the issue off the table. For expected LATE-BREAKING Community Garden news subscribe to Cybergardens in the listserv section of www.treebranch.net
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 69 March 30, 2001
1999 Winner, NYC American Planning Assoc. Award for Journalism
NEW MOVES FOR GARDEN PRESERVATION
In a report entitled Disposition Disputes, the Citizens' Housing and Planning Council notes that disposition of city land that is not being used for community gardens continues to move forward quickly. The report further states that the judicial hold won by Attorney General Elliot Spitzer against garden destruction has had the effect of excluding the green oases from the expedited land sales. (www.chpcny.org)
In addition, behind the scenes negotiations between agency personnel and elected officials are taking into account the text of proposed legislation to provide a process for garden preservation, according to an agency source. This is happening, even as the proposed bill appears to be stalled in Council. While the temporary restraining order is in place that prevents gardens from being bulldozed, many gardeners believe that passing the Council legislation is an important step to provide a permanent solution to the impasse. Perhaps it is time for Community Garden supporters to call Councilman Fisher and ask his help in moving the City legislation forward. (718-875-5200)
In a related move, legislation has been reintroduced in Albany that would require stale ULURPS to be reconsidered when the land is being used for other purposes. Some gardens are on land that has been zoned for redevelopment using the city's ULURP process more than twenty years ago. At that time, before most gardens were founded, the social capital or environmental benefits of the small parks had not been considered in preparing the land for expedited disposition. A call to state elected officials asking their help in moving the legislation is also in order.
From:
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 60 - August 20, 2000 - 1999 Winner, NYC American Planning Assoc.
Award for Journalism
WE CAN HAVE GARDENS AND HOUSING BUT HPD PLANS ANOTHER ASSAULT
The destruction of additional NYC community gardens are currently stalled by the courts because of a suit by Attorney General Spitzer, but rumors are that upon disposition of the lawsuit NYC Department of Housing and Development (HPD) plans another wholesale onslaught on the green oases. In response to a NY Post editorial, Mr. Spitzer sent a reply, which we have edited below:
"The Post accepted without question the Giuliani administration's claim that my office is blocking development of affordable housing. This is not true. In order to convert community gardens to other uses, the city must complete an environmental review and give the public the opportunity to comment. That is the law. The city, however, ignored this process last spring and simply placed the gardens on the auction block.
A state judge rebuked the city for its actions, but City Hall refused to change its approach. To this day, the administration insists that it need not follow the established public-review procedure. I personally spoke with city officials, telling them that if they continued to ignore legal obligations, it would only lead to litigation, not to either affordable housing or maintenance of the community gardens. The administration is not only flouting the law, it is ignoring something that is vitally important to the quality of life in New York - the preservation of open space. Many of the parcels the city wants to develop are not vacant lots; they are decades-old community gardens where urban residents can experience a little bit of nature in the middle of the city.
I am a strong supporter of the gardens, but I also support affordable public housing. And there is absolutely no reason we cannot have both. That is why what is happening is such an outrage. If the administration really cared about affordable housing, why doesn't it proceed with development on any of the thousands of well-situated vacant city-owned lots that do not contain gardens?"
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
356 Seventh Avenue New York NY 10001 212.352.9330
Fax: 212-352-9338 e-mail: dave.lutz@treebranch.com
COMMUNITY GARDEN UPDATE is published periodically by the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition. It reports on the struggle to preserve Community Gardening and the work of thousands of volunteers that take an interest in the spaces. It is a companion publication to URBAN OUTDOORS. To add someone to our subscriber list: Send their e-mail address to nosc@treebranch.com. If you wish to be removed from the list write: "unsubscribe urban outdoors" to the same address. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletters by fax, write unsubscribe on the cover sheet and fax it back to 212-352-9338.
To send an e-mail post card to Council Speaker Vallone in support of Community Garden Preservation, Go to: www.treebranch.com/savegardens
To get the complete text of the latest draft of the proposed community garden preservation legislation write: oughtabe@treebranch.com. It will be sent to you by e-mail.
Community Garden Update
No. 54 April 4, 2000
1999 Winner, NYC American Planning Assoc. Award for Journalism
MAYOR TARGETS MORE GARDENS
Mayor Rudy Giuliani continued his reign of terror on community
gardens last week in the form of a Request for Proposals to develop
market rate housing on 137 NYC owned properties. In a city with over
11,000 truly vacant lots, to the best of our knowledge, 40 of the 137
properties chosen from the City's vast inventory were on the same
sites as active Community Gardens. Over 20 more gardens would be
destroyed by this initiative alone. In the few short months since the
cliffhanger purchase of more than 100 gardens by the philanthropic
community, over 100 additional lots with gardens have been moving
through the development process and are on bulldozer watch.
Once again, the Mayor has used an administrative loophole to bypass the normal city processes, which allow Community Planning Boards to have input into their futures. Gardeners are denied the same due process that most land with existing uses must go through. The UDAAP shortcut continues to be used even after HPD Commissioner Richard Roberts promised two-years ago not to dispose of land without Board input. Once again, the City, in its press release resorts to a big lie, saying, “these sites are among the last unimproved, derelict, and vacant lots in their communities”. Once again, community gardens will be developed with no public discourse about the wisest use of city land, no planning for open space needs, and no requirement that truly vacant lots be developed first. Once again, community gardeners were not informed of the impending destruction of their green oases.
While the Department of Housing Preservation and Development continues to frame the issue as gardens vs. affordable housing, the one to four family homes to be built under this RFP will all be 'market rate'. According to HPD "There will be no income restrictions for homebuyers and no limitations on the rents which may be charged by any homebuyer for any rental"
NYC has the smallest amount of parkland per thousand people of any American city. Brooklyn and Manhattan have 1.7 and 1.8 acres per thousand. Boston, the least well-served American City outside of New York has over 4 acres per thousand. Most American cities have over 6 acres of parkland per thousand residents
STAND UP ON EARTH WEEK
TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY GARDENING
At an Earth Day City Hall event, coming up on April 18 at 11 am, City
Council Members will announce the introduction of city legislation to
provide some protection for community gardens. Your presence that day
will send a clear signal that community gardens and the urban
environment are a big consideration at the ballot box.
It is anticipated that the bill will be introduced by Councilmember Ken Fisher of Brooklyn and Adolfo Carrion of the Bronx and will be supported by a broad coalition of Council members. State Senator John Sampson has introduced other legislation in Albany, but it is noted that no “sibling” bill has appeared in the State Assembly. Community gardens tend to be viewed as a “NYC issue” and thus state legislators are said to be unlikely to provide leadership, preferring the City to decide its own fate.
LEGISLATION PROVIDES PROCESS FOR PRESERVATION
In the last two years, over 100 gardens have been preserved by
placement in the hands of non-profit land trusts and an additional 60
have become permanent parkland. Yet, over 400 community gardens are
still endangered in the Mayor's effort to privatize city owned land
without consideration of its benefit to city life. It is unlikely
that gardens will again become parks in the present administration.
Land trusts traditionally do not spend huge sums purchasing public
land, thus a repeat of the recent cliffhanger is unlikely. Meanwhile,
hardly a week goes by without a garden being bulldozed, drilled for
core samples, losing site control, or being brought up before a
community board or the City Council for review.
Highlights of the proposed legislation include: - Recognition of community gardening as an existing use of city land. Presently, community gardens are classified as “empty lots.” - An end to the accelerated UDAP land use shortcut for community gardens, and a return to the traditional ULURP process. This simple switch could buy valuable time for existing gardens, and help assess community needs more effectively. - A requirement for environmental impact review before gardens are taken away. - A process for the development of new community gardens. Although there have been many requests for new gardens, only a few, in unbuildable locations have been approved by the city.
The legislation is a first step in recognizing the rights of garden. It requires that community gardens be referred to as such by city officials in land disposition announcements and subsequent hearings, rather than misleadingly as vacant lots or “block and lot” numbers. Referring to a garden by numbers not only demeans community efforts, but also makes it difficult for gardeners to track the labyrinthine reviews and find out when their garden might be brought up for disposal.
For a complete legislative package including the draft text of the proposed City Council bill write to: oughtabe@treebranch.com. The package of documents will be e-mailed back by auto-responder.
BRANCHING OUT
Everyone benefits from a community garden even if it's just to walk
by and witness the serenity and beauty of nature in an overbuilt
city. But anyone who has spent any time in the green oases realizes
that our gardens provide for many community benefits and needs.
Police departments in Miami and San Antonio recognize that community
gardens are a leading indicator of community cohesion and provide a
positive atmosphere that helps young people stay away from bad
influences, and in those cities the departments have helped organize
the little parks. In other cities, including London and Toronto,
Health Departments nurture the gardens in an effort to encourage
healthy eating and physical activity. NYC gardeners will be reaching
out for support well beyond the environmental community to civic
associations, law enforcement support groups, health professionals,
educators, housing advocates, architects, religious organizations,
and businesses.
POSTCARDS, E-MAIL, AND INFORMATIONAL PACKETS Thousands of postcards are being sent to Council Speaker Peter Vallone and other officials. The postcards, designed by Jon Crow of Brooklyn Alliance of Neighborhood Gardens, are snappy reminders that there are 11,000 city-owned vacant lots and only 500 unprotected community gardens. The theme is "There Oughta Be a Law," which underlines the point that over 130 people have been arrested in New York in the last two years for defending the gardens. An e-mail campaign will be added to the effort at www.treebranch.com/savegardens. The postcards, petitions and sample letters of endorsement are being disseminated widely at public events.
An organizational support package is also being circulated in an attempt to get the formality of a “sign-on” from many of the thousands of groups organized in the city for the public benefit. Gardening support groups are looking for assistance with the outreach campaign. Volunteers can call 212-352-9330.
ATTORNEY GENERAL KEEPS MORITORIUM ALIVE
Although the vise continues to close on some of the best-developed
and well-organized community gardens in NYC, a moratorium is in
effect halting any further destruction for the time being. Attorney
General Elliot Spitzer has lifted the torch on behalf of the emerald
treasures and NYS Supreme Court Judge Richard Huttner has put an
order in place barring the city from destroying GreenThumb gardens
until the issues he has raised are addressed. The Attorney General is
arguing that the gardens have legal standing as parks because they
are used as parks and because the GreenThumb program is housed within
the Parks Department. Mr. Spitzer's office is also arguing that the
gardens are in fact an existing use of city land and thereby entitled
to environmental review before new development takes place. While the
Attorney General is referring to existing case law in an effort to
save the gardens, it is not known how or when the case will be
resolved.
GARDENS AND HEALTHY CITIES The earliest hospitals, formed as charities in Europe, included gardens, and American hospitals followed the European example until many expanded into the garden spaces. Studies have consistently shown that plants enhance an individual's psychological and physical health. In our smoggy city, gardens act as miniature oxygen tents for those who spend time in them. Recent reports about the increases in area trucking to haul trash now that the Fresh Kills landfill is closing, and the link between diesel fuel and cancer, just add to the need for green spaces in the city.
Think of community gardens as healthy living centers that provide fresh fruit and vegetables and physical activity for tens of thousands of New Yorkers. Better diet and/or moderate physical activity is the preventive medicine for many urban maladies, including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and some cancers. With a significant and growing percentage of governmental budgets going toward treatment of these diseases, surely some effort should be made to fund prevention with more than pamphlets. Instead, NYC answers the preservation pleas of gardeners with bulldozers, although community gardening costs NYC government nothing.
The gardens have also functioned as nonprofessional, peer-assisted social service centers, providing a sense of worth to people at the very bottom of society's pecking order. Volunteers sometimes arrive with a history of substance abuse or with severe family problems. Gardening gives them small, but tangible successes and a consequent understanding of the fact that good things take time to happen. After they have picked themselves up, their new experience with group interaction helps them in networking access to job opportunities at the entry level.
GARDENS, WEST NILE VIRUS, AND ENCEPHALITIS
Gardens are not only sanctuaries for people other species benefit
too. A healthy bird population reduces the number of mosquitoes,
which are responsible for the spread of the West Nile Encephalitis
virus. Seven city residents died last year from the disease. While
city residents debate the value of Malathion spraying to control the
outbreak, in the gardens, an informed and environmentally-conscious
citizenry works for healthy communities in a different way. The
Claddagh Garden in the mosquito filled Rockaways has established a
“sentinel” flock of birds, which is routinely tested for disease. The
flock is housed in a mobile coop, which when moved from plot to plot
in the garden, provides fertilizer!
New Yorkers remember that before the junk-filled lots became gardens, the littered spaces provided huge procreation opportunities for mosquitoes. Better monitoring of dead birds and eradicating mosquito breeding grounds is now mandatory. If a dead bird is found in a community garden, it's a good idea to turn it in. Call the Dept. of Health (212) 788-9636.
ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE BATTLE
Some of the best-watched trees in America are in NYC community
gardens. At a time when an imported insect is potentially endangering
all of America's forests, that fact may be increasingly important to
the federal and state officials that are monitoring the spread of the
inch-long black insect with white spots and long, striped antennae.
The Asian longhorned beetle kills trees by boring into them to lay eggs. When the eggs become larvae, they eat their way back out, flying away as adults and leaving their ravaged hosts pocked with perfectly round, dime-sized holes. The insects have no natural enemies in the United States. Once a tree is infected, it is doomed. Thousands of trees have been felled and ground into bits to try to check the beetles' advance. Federal and state officials have spent several million dollars and expect to spend millions more in fighting the beetle, which was first spotted in the Greenpoint, Brooklyn four years ago, and has spread to Little Neck, Harlem, Fort Greene and even Chicago. Citizens who spot Asian longhorned beetles or round, inch-wide holes in trees should call 1800-554-4501 ext.72087
A TALE OF TWO GARDENS
Despite the enormous victory last spring in which over a hundred
gardens were spared in the eleventh hour, gardens are threatened by
many diverse agents. Surprisingly, a nonprofit group, church or arts
organization is often the culprit, placing its needs higher than
those of the present users. At La Plaza Cultural, 9th Street and
Avenue C, plans have been approved by Community Board 3 to build
senior housing. For the time being however, in response to the
Attorney General's petition, Judge Huttner has issued a TRO
(Temporary Restraining Order) protecting all the gardens in the city.
La Plaza, a 25-year-old park, boasts the largest outdoor amphitheater
in lower Manhattan and is the host for scores of cultural activities
throughout the year, including poetry readings, choreography,
concerts and theater. It is also one of 15 gardens participating in
The City Farms project which helps provide produce for local families.
Likewise, the 10-year-old Peach Tree Garden on East 2nd Street, named for its 3 peach trees, is the target of the Nuyorican Poets Café. The Café's director, Miguel Algarin, wants subsidized housing for retired artists to be built on the spot. Reportedly, site control has already been taken from the garden.
GROWING CITIZENSHIP
To make sure community gardeners are counted in both municipal and
statewide elections, the Green Guerillas (GG's) have launched an
effort to see that every gardener is also a voter. GG's “Plant the
Vote” campaign will not only go to gardens and events to register
voters, but will also enlist gardeners to conduct registration drives
in their neighborhoods. For more information call 212-674-8124 ext.
100. GG's is also promoting census participation, noting the
importance of a proper count to the future of NYC.
PROTECTING THE INCENTIVE TO VOLUNTEER
Community gardening is a volunteer activity, which provides an
extensive array of services to neighborhood residents, often in the
communities with the least access to NYC's sparse parkland. A
volunteer presence on the streets cuts crime and policing costs.
Sharing common interests brings people together across the boundaries
of age, ethnicity, education, religion and income, reducing tensions
and improving communications skills. Gardens serve as science labs
for children, improving local education at no taxpayer cost. Local
composting cuts sanitation costs. Performers benefit from using the
valuable spaces for rehearsals and presentations, while the residents
enjoy the shows. Some gardens such as 6th and B, actually host more
cultural events than any of the nearby parks.
Community gardens have become centers of fierce local pride, with gardeners acting as advocates for many community improvements, including housing. These improvements have brought people back to formerly devastated neighborhoods. Those that followed the municipal instruction “Don't move… Improve” are now being punished with the loss of over twenty years of dedicated volunteer labor. With the passage of City Council legislation, Community gardeners will at least have a chance to take their case to the court of public opinion.
FOR THE UNCONNECTED
There have been many references in this newsletter to computer-based
actions and information sources. We recognize that many New Yorkers
are not online. We hope that the newsletter has been written in a way
that does not leave them out. If you need help accessing
documentation, your local library will help with the computer
sources. Our phone number is 212-352-9330. During working hours the
phones are usually answered by a real live person, otherwise please
leave a message!
Earth Celebrations
Preserving The Gardens Of New York Through Art And Community Action.
"Since 1991, Earth Celebrations has been working to preserve the network of over 50
community gardens on the Lower East Side of New York City through innovative and creative programs, pageants, and workshops."
200 Demand Return of Garden From Developer in Manhattan
February 22, 2000
New York Times
One week after 31 demonstrators were arrested protesting the razing of a community garden on the Lower East Side, nearly 200 people returned to the site yesterday to demand that the city return the space.
The Esperanza Community Garden, on East Seventh Street between Avenues B and C, was cleared to make way for housing and retail development. Yesterday, the protesters questioned the city's decision to move in on Esperanza when, they said, there are thousands of unused lots around the city where housing can be built.
The demonstrators arrived carrying bouquets of flowers, potted plants and, in one case, a jumbo-size onion. Some beat out rhythms on bongos and drums; others wore sunflower headdresses or carried papier-m‰chŽ replicas of insects; one man was dressed as a giant tomato.
But Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is unlikely to be moved by such appeals. His administration contends that such lots can fill the city's need for more lower- and middle-class housing.
Community groups plan to file a motion in court requesting that the city be barred from turning the site over to a developer or allowing any construction to take place.
Some of those taking part in yesterday's protest said that the developer for the site, Donald Capoccia, had allocated only 20 percent of the planned apartments for low-income housing.
The remaining 80 percent will be priced at market rate.
"This is not a struggle between low-income housing and gardens," said Dave Powell, a tenants' advocate for the Metropolitan Council on Housing, as he addressed the crowd. "It's a struggle between the long-term interests of community residents and the shortsighted interests of a developer."
Two dozen police officers watched as the crowd moved slowly east from Avenue B and stopped in front of a tall wooden fence erected in front of the former garden site.
There, they placed devotional candles and seed packets on the sidewalk and chalked messages on the fence, one of which read, "Free the Land." "With this kind of community spirit, there is every reason to grant the motion," said Michael Shenker, a local resident. "There's enough support to replant Esperanza in days."
E-Mail: dave lutz
Together with Urban Outdoors Bulletin, NOSC's monthly
electronic newsletter, and Garden Preservation Update,
New Yorkers can keep informed about the citywide effort
to preserve and maintain our public space.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
71 W. 23 St. New York NY 10010
Phone: 212-352-9330
Fax: 212-352-9338
See bottom of page for more information about joining.
U r b a n O u t d o o r s Extra
No. 52 February 21, 2000 1999 Winner, NYC American Planning
Association Award for Journalism
SPITZER STALLS MAYOR'S "WAR ON GARDENS" AS ESPERANZA FALLS
On Tuesday January 15, as platoons of police officers cordoned off
the neighborhood so that people could not watch, 31 garden protesters
were arrested for trying to preserve the Esperanza Garden on the
lower east side of Manhattan. While the twenty-two year-old public
garden was bulldozed in less than an hour, the protesters were
subjected to an overnight stay in a jail cell instead of release and
report to court. One protester was plucked out of the broken eye of a
twenty-foot coqui (sculpture of a frog) that was erected on the site
to add color in the winter months and serve as a symbol of resistance
to ward off intruders.
On the day before the siege, Valentines Day, More Gardens Coalition went to court seeking a stay of execution. A disinterested Judge Rosenberger shuffled through papers as lawyers presented their case. The fate of the garden was sealed when the City won a postponement without a moratorium on destruction. As the bulldozers were tearing up the land at Esperanza, Atty General Elliot Spitzer argued successfully in a Brooklyn courtroom for a moratorium on the destruction of all GreenThumb gardens, which are now safe until the legality of their common law status as parks is established or refuted, or the need for environmental documentation before destruction is established.
CAPOCCIA'S MONEY TO MAYOR EXCEEDS LEGAL CAPS
After the bulldozers, the press looked for reasons for the senseless
act. Low income housing, the Mayor's explanation, did not hold water
on the luxury apartment building being placed at the site. Even the
20% of units being reserved for limited income families could go
"market rate" in 10 years. Connections were found between the
developer, selected without competitive bidding, and the Mayor's
fundraising efforts. The press revealed what gardeners already knew,
Donald Capoccia's company has made $46,000 in campaign contributions
to the Mayor, (some $ had to be returned because it exceeded caps)
and was being rewarded with the return "contribution" of city land.
TOP DEM: RUDY RAZED GARDEN FOR $UPPORTER
By DAVID SEIFMAN
NY Post February 19,2000
IN STEP:
Developer Donald Capoccia, here last year with Mayor Giuliani, is building on the site of the now-bulldozed Esperanza Gardens.
- NYP: T. Beckwith
State Democratic chief Judith Hope yesterday accused Mayor Giuliani of demolishing a community garden as a "quid pro quo" to a developer who is one of his campaign contributors.
"We see coming from this reform mayor a pattern that spells to me repeated conflict of interest, repeated cronyism, repeated favoritism to campaign contributors and close buddies of the mayor," Hope charged.
Asked if she was accusing Giuliani of being a crook, Hope backed off: "No, I'm not saying that."
But her press release was headlined: "Hope Blasts Giuliani for Selling Out His Office for Campaign Cash" -- which, if true, would be a criminal matter.
Bruce Teitelbaum, Giuliani's campaign director, fired back sharply that Hope was slinging "mud" on behalf of Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign.
"Judith Hope should learn something and Mrs. Clinton should learn something right up front," said Teitelbaum. "This is a different kind of campaign. We're not going to be played for suckers. We're not going to respond to phony attacks."
At issue was the 22-year-old Esperanza Gardens on East Seventh Street, which was bulldozed by the city Tuesday to make way for a 79-unit building being developed by BFC Partners.
The company and its principals, including Donald Capoccia, have contributed $46,800 to the mayor since 1997.
Hope offered no evidence for what she described as a "quid pro quo" -- the alleged rushing of the demolition in exchange for campaign cash.
Instead, she pointed to previous questions about day-care vouchers and parking permits going to mayoral campaign contributors.
"Something very bad is going on here," she charged.
The super-heated rhetoric was another indication that the race between Giuliani and Clinton -- more than eight months from election day -- has become a no-holds-barred affair.
Richard Roberts, the city's housing commissioner, said BFC paid the city about $600,000 to develop the property in conjunction with the Gethsemane Garden Baptist Church.
Roberts said the local community board, the City Council, the City Planning Commission and Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields all gave the project the green light.
"This has gone through such an exhaustive public review process," he said. "If people didn't like the plan, it wouldn't have moved forward."
February 17, 2000
Editorial - New York Times
Death of a Garden
On Tuesday morning, Esperanza Garden, a community garden on East Seventh Street in Manhattan, was bulldozed after 22 years of existence. Its destruction marked the latest battle in the long-running war between Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and community advocates over the use of city-owned lots for community gardens. City Hall contends that many lots were only lent to the neighborhoods for gardens with the understanding that they would ultimately be taken back. Now, the mayor says, the lot on East Seventh Street should be sold to a developer to build low- and middle-income housing.
But the developer for this lot has set aside only 20 percent of the planned housing units for low-income housing. The rest will be made available as the market dictates. There are also provisions for nearly 7,000 square feet of retail space and 5,000 square feet of permanent open space. The fate of Esperanza Garden had been decided during a series of public hearings intended, in the administration's words, to balance competing interests, though it is not clear how the users of a community garden can compete with the economic clout of a developer. No city ownership right can quite absolve the mayor and his administration of insensitivity in their handling of community gardens. "If you live in an unrealistic world then you can say everything should be a community garden," the mayor said. But their defenders do not assert that everything should be a community garden. They only say that such gardens, rare as they are, bring vitality and a sense of purpose to neighborhoods.
The conflict underlying the destruction of Esperanza Garden seems more fundamental than a struggle between gardeners and developers, green space and housing. It seems to be a conflict about the expression of public will. In most cases, the mayor clearly tries to take the broad view of what is best for most New Yorkers. Not every community garden will survive in an economic climate as ebullient and a housing market as tight as this one. But the most meaningful definition of public value is not always the broadest or most economically justifiable one. A patch of green or a plot of flowers can often do more for a neighborhood than new apartments and retail establishments.
February 16, 2000
New York Times
Police Occupy Lower East Side Garden and Arrest 31
By C. J. CHIVERS
The narrow lot on East Seventh Street, wedged between two apartment buildings and showing the remains of last fall's crop of vegetables and herbs, would hardly seem capable of attracting attention in the bustle of New York.
But yesterday morning it managed to capture, for a moment, center stage in the city, encapsulating the fight that has been going on for years over the hundreds of community gardens that have sprung up on city-owned lots, many with official encouragement.
Yesterday, as the city was sending bulldozers and the police to clear out the tiny community garden known as Esperanza Garden, the state attorney general was sending lawyers to court to try to stop them, and dozens of protesters were chaining themselves to cement blocks that they had buried in the garden months ago to prepare for just this moment.
It was the latest pitched battle between the Giuliani administration, which wants to reclaim the properties to make way for low- and middle-income housing, and community advocates who see the gardens as invaluable solace and scenery in a city dominated by asphalt and concrete. The fight has been waged in the courts, the news media and the neighborhoods, and has at times even attracted celebrities like Bette Midler, who helped rescue 112 other lots last year.
Esperanza Garden has managed to draw intense devotion on the Lower East Side. Just hours before the court hearing was to begin, demonstrators who had spent the night guarding the garden were in a tense standoff with the police.
They had chained themselves to concrete blocks and fences in hopes of preventing the garden from being razed. They were chanting songs.
And as often seems to be the case when the community gardens are at stake, confusion reigned.
Before a judge could weigh in on the merits of the state's case, the city acted. The police waded into the demonstration, arresting 31 people and scattering dozens of others. A work crew with a bulldozer, backhoe and chain saws then set to destroying all traces of the garden, which had been in existence since 1977.
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who hopes to sell the lot to BFC Properties, a developer, says this lot and hundreds of others like it can be used to ease a housing shortage. The lots will create housing for people who can least afford it, he said, and the city's plans are legal and sound.
"If you live in an unrealistic world then you can say everything should be a community garden," Mr. Giuliani said. "Then where would people live where they are able to get affordable housing?"
The resistance to the city's plans includes the court challenge from Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer, who says that the lots, which had once fallen under the city's program to encourage community gardens, should be considered parks, which could only be sold after state environmental review or by an act of the Legislature.
"The fact of the matter is that this is a determination the courts should make," Mr. Spitzer said. "This is an unfortunate display of the mayor preventing the judicial process from operating."
The timing of yesterday's actions left some of the gardeners and sympathizers bewildered.
"It wreaks havoc on the conscience," said Joel Kupferman, a staff lawyer for the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. "I am crestfallen."
The police action also created a scene. In recent months, as it seemed sure that the city would evict the gardeners, they fortified land they had come to see as their own.
In addition to the concrete blocks they chained themselves to, the garderners erected a tripod to stand watch, and built a sculpture of a large tree frog, or coqu’, which in Puerto Rican legend is said to repel attackers. The frog had room inside for at least two people.
Yesterday, the fortifications failed to hold.
By 3:15 a.m., the police began towing away cars on the street, while the protesters gathered around a fire. By 7 a.m., the crowd of protesters had grown to 150. They chanted: "New York City has got to breathe. More gardens, more peace."
"Even if they raze this garden, we'll take it back," said Michael Shenker, a resister. "We'll take two for every one they destroy.
Giuliani, Fooliani! We're going to haunt Giuliani like the Furies from Greek mythology."
Shortly after 10 a.m. the officers converged, cutting Mr. Shenker and other protesters free and carting them off to local precincts. Although the protesters had hoped to delay the city until Mr. Spitzer's lawyers could argue their case in court, they failed.
The last of the protesters was removed by 11:30. The court did not finish hearing the state's motion until early afternoon, at which time Justice Richard D. Huttner of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn blocked the city from moving against 174 other lots until the court meets again next month.
Lawyers in the case said the judge separated Esperanza Garden from his ruling because it is the subject of a separate proceeding, filed by the neighborhood, that has been rejected by the courts and is now under appeal.
The legal distinction mattered little. By the time the order was issued, Esperanza Garden was no more.
"It's incredible to me," said Ariane Burgess. "It took 22 years to create this beautiful space, and they completely destroyed it in a couple of hours."
As Ms. Burgess spoke, the creak and rumble of the bulldozer could be heard from the lot, where all of the garden's structures and plantings were being crushed, including the frog. A woman wandered by, carrying a burlap scarecrow.
The police said the 31 protesters were charged with trespassing and would be held overnight for morning court appearances. Some were also charged with obstructing justice and resisting arrest, the police said.
Mr. Giuliani said he was unmoved by the timing of the arrests, and by Judge Huttner's temporary restraining order.
"We are considering appealing that," he said. "I would ask people to consider how hard it is to get an apartment in New York, how the vacancy rate is nonexistent. I mean, something has to give."
E-Mail: dave lutz
Together with Urban Outdoors Bulletin, NOSC's monthly
electronic newsletter, and Garden Preservation Update,
New Yorkers can keep informed about the citywide effort
to preserve and maintain our public space.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
71 W. 23 St. New York NY 10010
Phone: 212-352-9330
Fax: 212-352-9338
See bottom of page for more information about joining.
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 51 - January 25, 2000
1999 Winner,NYC American Planning Association Award for Journalism
Community garden supporters are circulating a document that could become the legislation that creates a set of steps that citizens can take to preserve community gardens or start new ones. The legislation also asks for a moratorium on developing or disposing of existing community gardens, while it is being considered. Once the legislation is in effect, a garden will have to go through a Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) before it can be taken away. ULURP is a comprehensive review involving input from more than one branch of City government. If a garden is to be developed, the proposed legislation mandates that the city find a nearby, alternative site before the garden is cleared. Lastly, this legislation asks the City Council to establish a community garden fund for small grants to community garden groups. Urban Outdoors readers can help get this "garden preservation legislation" on the docket by calling their Council members and asking for support.
WINTER SOLDIERS GUARD GARDENOn a cold winter weekend NOSC visited the Esperanza Garden, where a giant sculpture of a coqui (frog) provides shelter to nightly campers while it guards the gate waiting for the expected bulldozers. About a half a dozen people were present, doing chores to keep the garden clean and warm. The stage/gazebo/casita was covered with plastic, to keep out the wind, and a kitchen has been installed inside. Tents have been set up at the rear of the garden, near the bulldozers that were working on the next lot, clearing it for construction. Although a small campfire burns in the center of the garden, the good humor of people involved in this effort provide the pervading sense of warmth.
Folks know that the act of defiance that they are engaged in is not a life and death matter, but is about public health and the ability to create community in an impersonal city. It requires walking a very narrow line to translate that message into attention-getting activities. Thanks to the folks from More Gardens and Times Up at the Esperanza Garden, the NY media are again waking up to the continuing threat to community gardening. The campers are a hardy lot, giving up the comfort of warm places to take a stand. Go on down and say hello.
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 49 - November 29, 1999
1999 Winner, NYC American Planning Association Award for Journalism
A TROJAN FROG FOR ENDANGERED ESPARANZA GARDEN
With 11 gardens bulldozed already this year, and eviction letters to
16 last month, 400-500 gardens are still threatened.While the
emotional response to the continuing danger ranges from dispirited
resignation to over-my-dead-body! , on the Lower East Side
expressions of defiance are often artistic expressions. The following
note was edited from cyberpark:
The injunction against bulldozing Jardin Esperanza, on E. 7th between B and C, ran out; the garden could be bulldozed anytime. But gardeners are a stubborn lot, and they're digging in. Or more precisely, locking down. Over the weekend, More Gardens! Coalition working with the Esperanza gardeners completed a giant sculpture of a coqui. Coquis are a kind of Puerto Rican tree frog.They are an indicator species, which means they act on the planet like a canary in a coal mine. They're tiny, but man oh man are they loud--an apt symbol for community gardeners. This coqui shelters a tall sleeping platform. The coqui's eyes are clear domes that peek over the fence, surveying the street. People sleep under the coqui every night, despite the already cold temperatures. The platform features the latest in lock down equipment. If the police try to extract protesters from the platform, they will have one helluva time.
More Gardens asks that citizens call State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer at 212.416.8446. Thank him for support of community gardens. Ask him to assist in preservation of the remaining unprotected gardens.
Community Garden Update
November 5, 1999
IN TORONTO, THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT BUILDS COMMUNITY GARDENS.
While NYC works to destroy twenty years of community building, the
City of Toronto moves in the other direction because they believe
that community gardening saves lives and money. In Albany, Toronto's
Dr. Trevor Hancock, speaking to a meeting of health professionals,
noted that community gardening was critical to healthy communities,
providing gathering spaces for neighborly support, green oases for
psychological health and cleaner air, and opportunities for physical
activity to reduce the incidence of many debilitating conditions
including hypertension, heart disease, diabetics, asthma, and some
cancers. (He failed to mention fresh nutritious food) As a result, he
told the assembled audience, the City of Toronto Health Department
was engaged in a program to expand community gardening opportunities
in that city.
In NYC:
DAGGER STILL AIMED AT 500 GARDENS
Although more than 100 gardens were preserved by NYC's philanthropic
community in a last minute deal, the paying of ransom to the city has
not encouraged Mayor Guiliani to view the remaining gardens as worthy
of preservation. Thus, development proposals put in place both before
and after the sale are moving forward, placing many gardeners in the
position of seeing the vise slowly close on the only "cared for" open
spaces in their communities.
While parks and public spaces in affluent communities are increasingly being cared for with private donations solicited from surrounding businesses and residents, apparently sweat equity in low income neighborhoods is not put on an equal footing by a Mayor who sees an opportunity to "cash-in his chips" and leave the people that have the least public space with even less.
LAST CHANCE FOR CITY COUNCIL?
While Council Speaker Peter Vallone has voiced opposition to the
unrestricted sale of community gardens during the height of this
year's crisis, City Council has done nothing to protect the verdant
spaces. Although they have had the opportunity to preserve some
gardens, they have in every case in which they were part of the
process allowed garden destruction to move forward. In fact, some
Council members have moved to take gardens out of the recent land
trust sale package so that they can be sold to developers.
While legislation has been introduced in the State Legislature to protect community gardens, City Council, which is specifically mandated to be the people's voice in local matters, has thus far chosen not to be an activist voice. The reasons for this are complex. They include financial ties to developers, fear of a vindictive Mayor, lack of instructions from the Council Speaker to move ahead, and even a genuine feeling that not all of the gardens are worthy of preservation. While it is unfair to judge community stewarded spaces by the same standards as the city-funded botanical gardens, the reality is that pending State legislation, which protects all the gardens, will probably not move forward. Thus, City Council must agree on some process to give the gardeners a chance to fight for their own permanence, even if it is not the absolute protection that many community gardeners would prefer. It would cost the city nothing to at least protect the spaces while they are in active stewardship.
FOUR BROOKLYN GARDENS BULLDOZED
When the Keap Street and Flags Gardens in Williamsburg were bulldozed
early this summer, one of the founding families of the two adjacent
Casita-style gardens just gave up on New York. He took his family
back home to Puerto Rico, depriving NYC of the kind of bootstrap
energy that this city has always admired. Brooklyn's Sunflower and
Generation Gardens were also torn down around the same time. Four
more Brooklyn public gardens have received vacate orders this fall,
and more are expected.
TEN BRONX GARDENS ORDERED TO VACATE
In the Bronx, ten of Community Board #3's gardens are to be taken in
one coordinated attack. Among the gardens that have received orders
to vacate are the Peachtree and Sun Set gardens founded more than
twenty years ago. In addition to frequent local gatherings, the
gardeners at this twin garden have been host to a national bicycle
tour to promote the concept of an East Coast Greenway, which is
likely to pass this site. The South Bronx may yet get the greenway,
but gardeners wonder if the City government will first kill
everything that is green?
THE LAST PUMPKIN SMASH
AT THE PROSPECT HEIGHTS COMMUNITY FARM?
Last week, the Community Farm, one of Prospect Height's most active
public spaces, held its annual Pumpkin Smash. The jack-o-lanterns are
brought from around the neighborhood to the garden, where the
children are waiting. They handle the next task with gusto and
efficiency. The mess is brought to the compost heap, where it
provides nourishment for next year's crops. This year, the faces of
the adults showed a bit more concern than the carved faces on the
round fruit.
A week earlier, the city's development department (HPD) made an appearance at Brooklyn's CB8 to push expedited plans to develop the garden and land around it. The gardeners had done their work well, and the Community Board was on record as supporting the space, but the HPD representative told the Board that the "farm" would not be transferred to parks. HPD Commissioner Richard Roberts is on record as saying that gardens will not be developed against the will of the community, but the gardeners fear that without the transfer-to-parks option the Board may not maintain its resolve. NOSC will be watching this face-off for hints about future development about community board supported open space.
FOUR LAND TRUSTS IN FORMATION TO SUPPORT PURCHASED GARDENS
The Trust for Public Land has announced that the community gardens
purchased by their organization will be placed into three separate
land trusts, one each for Bronx and Manhattan, and one combined for
Brooklyn and Queens. The New York Restoration Gardens will be placed
into one citywide land trust. These land trusts are expected to have
boards of trustees that are representative of the communities and the
gardens that they serve. They are expected to be given the authority
to assist gardeners in developing the organizations necessary for
continuity and those facing succession problems. It is not as yet
known whether these organizations will set standards for public
access to the gardens or any other aspect of daily operation.
ARE THE SAVED GARDENS PERMANENT?
Four of the more than one hundred gardens saved from destruction by
private purchase have been removed from the bill of sale by City
Council members who felt that their communities had greater needs
than open space. Those gardens were in Harlem and Jamaica, Queens.
The gardens removed from the sale have been informed of their again
threatened status. It is understood that no other gardens will fall
off the planned sale to NY Restoration and Trust for Public Land. The
bill of sale will, however, have clauses that will require that the
land be returned to the city if the land trusts are unable to utilize
them as green space.
About fifty gardens have thus far been preserved by "transfer to parks" Garden groups are being assured by GreenThumb that they have all the substantial legislative protection of park land. Given the assurances, it would be impossible to reclaim them for development as long as they are stewarded, and they would be subject to an "alienation" court case if they are returned to HPD.
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 47 September 22, 1999 1999
Winner, NYC American Planning
Association Award for Journalism
According to the slick and beautiful Garden Design Magazine, community gardeners around the country are trying to learn lessons from the recent fight to preserve gardens in NYC. While there had been isolated losses in other cities, never before had a city government attempted to take so many gardens at one time. According to California activist Michael Abelman: "I can promise you that mayors all over the country will take a hard look before they decide to threaten their local gardens."
The quote was almost identical to one by a NYC Councilman after the gardens had been purchased by Trust for Public Land and NY Restoration. Councilman Ken Fisher felt that our mayor would not want to again subject himself to the media heat provided by the local gardening community. While predicting the future is an uncertain endeavor, it is doubtful that wholesale destruction of gardens will be attempted soon. To prevent losing a few at a time, we move back to an old strategy of seeking Community Board protection, while we work for legislative relief.
RATS!While Mosquitoes are in the news, the current plague of rats has escaped the front pages. Rats have a long and dishonorable history as carriers of deadly disease. A hot summer following a mild winter has led to huge increases in the population. The boldest of the rodents, the Norway Rat, is being spotted in large numbers all over town. "A cold winter will knock out 1/4 to 1/3 of the population" according to Jake Cooper at NYC Parks. Rats love green spaces, just like people, but they will go anywhere that provides them with an easy source of food -- like garbage. Unfortunately, parks have green spaces and garbage. "Garbage usually picked up daily at NYC Parks, thus education is our first priority." Mr Cooper said in a phone conversation "People have to help by cleaning up after themselves. Rodents will not eat bait unless there is nothing else.. Even then, with a ready food source, bait is only a temporary measure." People who have seen a rat explosion in their parks should phone: 201-PARKS. The call will be forwarded to local pest control units and some action should be taken within a week or two.
"Community gardeners should stop composting food for a while" said Edie Stone at GreenThumb "and compost piles should be contained with a tight wire mesh. Bird feed and bread scraps are great rodent food, so bird feeding should be avoided." Community Gardens have fewer problems with rodents than empty lots because of the heavy presence of people. But rats are burrowing animals and gardens, like parks and backyards, often provide ideal homes. Gardens can be designed to discourage rodents. Plants hanging over garden boxes provide shelter. Paths and cleared openings in the landscaping should be large and frequent. Large areas of high grasses should be avoided. Gardeners should out-think the rodents by seeing that they do not have large areas of cover.
U r b a n O u t d o o r s
No. 46 - August 26, 1999
1999 Winner, NYC American Planning
Association Award for Journalism
NEWS OF THE STRUGGLE AT COMMUNITY GARDENS
Although a few gardens are still being bulldozed and more trouble is expected, in the midst of a record breaking heat wave, news from the gardening community is of a cooling off period. The hot news is of huge cucumber crops and garden conflict that has more to do with landscaping features or missing tomatoes than a contest of wills with a Mayor who thinks he has all the answers. (Did you know that squirrels eat tomatoes?)
NOSC has been working with Brooklyn Alliance for Neighborhood Gardens on a citywide summer survey which has again shown the difficulty of pigeonholing our passion for gardening in groups. The answers to our few questions about gardening activities were again all over the city lot. Concerts, classes, ceremonies, and cinema were some of the non-gardening activities that the gardens host. Gardeners apparently talk to one another at the gardens or by phone. Most do not have e-mail addresses. Gardens that were tied to community and social services tended to be open midweek more regularly than those that had no such ties. And workshops, community picnics and barbecues were the most common non-gardening community building activities that take place in the spaces.
This leads us to another part of our open space agenda. The State Parks that ring our city are most often used for drive-in picnics. They were built within forest groves by paving "family-sized" nooks with picnic tables, stoves, and easy access to the trunk of a car. As traffic around our city has become more congested, the trip to the state park has become more difficult. Perhaps the community gardens are filling this niche for many city residents. If so, they are reducing highway congestion, preventing air pollution, and preventing the combustion of fossil fuels, thereby preserving resources and slowing global warming. Perhaps we ought to be funding the growth of gardening with TEA21 Federal Transportation money. Gardeners instinctively knew of the need to create shady places within their gardens. The radiated heat of the concrete city demanded that gardens look and feel like oases. Little did they know they were the vanguards of a major change in transportation policy.
GROWING IN THE CRACKS: MORE GARDENS
As some NYC gardeners await news about whether they will survive the current crisis, GreenThumb reports that the number of gardens citywide is growing again. According to Edie Kean of GreenThumb, "We are starting new gardens on existing park land, school property, and on non-profit group land such as AIDS treatment centers, women's shelters, and churches. In addition, some of the recently purchased gardens that had been abandoned have sprung back to life. We are not wilting on the vine." Edie is especially excited about a new 1-acre potential park site near a Goodwill Industries facility in Astoria, Queens which, in addition to shaded sitting areas and gardening opportunities for people with disabilities, will have wheelchair-scaled basketball courts and other sports courts for people with special needs.
Adam Purple's Last Stand
"Adam Purple, the legendary Lower East Side artist best known
for creating The Garden of Eden, a world-famous "Earthwork," has
been living without gas, electricity or running water for 17
years. Now he is being threatened with eviction from his home of
26 years."
Adam Purple's Legacy
"Colleen began representing Adam Purple in 1987, a year after his spectacular garden was bulldozed by the City of New York. In the 1970s Adam liberated several abandoned city lots in the Lower East Side from their debris and squalor. Bicycling to Central Park to collect horse manure for compost, Adam literally made the garden's dirt, a feat that would take Mother Earth several thousand years."
E-Mail: dave lutz
Together with Urban Outdoors Bulletin, NOSC's monthly
electronic newsletter, and Garden Preservation Update,
New Yorkers can keep informed about the citywide effort
to preserve and maintain our public space.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
71 W. 23 St. New York NY 10010
Phone: 212-352-9330
Fax: 212-352-9338
See bottom of page for more information about joining.
Urban Outdoors Bulletin No. 44 ¥ July 1, 1999 ¥ Garden Preservation Extra
A THANK YOU CARD
FROM THE MAYOR
Not a month after over 100 gardens were purchased and preserved in a
cliff hanger negotiation with the Mayor, the greening community has
been issued its formal thank you in the form of an order to bulldoze
up to 15 gardens. In a Monday blitzkrieg, dozers swept through the
neighborhood to erase decades of work by people who believed the
civics lessons they had learned in school. Included was half of
Project Harmony's one remaining site, with mature fruiting trees that
attract scores of songbirds. Children flock there to learn about the
feathered critters. The Worley's had hoped to work a deal with the
City that would exchange the developer-owned land, across from a
day-care center, for a truly vacant Harlem lot. "We have plenty of
land to build on," Cynthia said. The bulldozing was timed to proceed
a court action by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund and was stopped
by a judicial restraining order with about half the gardens destroyed.
After the assault on the Project Harmony Garden, Cynthia left this note on Cyberpark: "Thank you all who were with us yesterday--especially Ben who risked his sweet life; thanks also to those cops who had tears in their eyes, who said, "I feel for you; I'd do anything not to be here.... I love gardens"...and to the sanitation guy who said, "This isn't what I thought my job would ever be ; I'm heartbroken"... The birds still sing this morning. All spring the robins' call has been: "Oh! Oh! Danger! Danger!" They know."
Cyberpark is NOSC's early warning system for park activists. To subscribe write: "subscribe" in the subject line of a message to cyberpark@treebranch.com
BACK TO THE FUTURE:
WILL WE NOW LOSE A FEW AT A TIME?
Rumors persist that NYC Department of Housing Preservation and
Development (HPD) plans to move ahead to develop community gardens
into housing. At least two garden disposals have slipped though City
Council in UDAAP packages. But it is rumored that gardens will NOT be
placed on fall auction lists. With about 500 community gardens still
threatened, it is now up to activists to convince NYC governmental
leaders that alternatives exist to taking gardens in order to provide
housing. Gardeners and their supporters will again be asked to pay
attention to city lists of unidentified Block and Lot numbers, attend
an endless string of City Council hearings and be alert to what is
happening on the neighborhood level at Community Boards. While HPD
promised an orderly process for land disposition which respected the
wishes of local communities, no such process has been developed, and
no assurances exist that local communities will be informed of
threats to gardens.
COURT CASE CONTINUES
Because the issues brought to Court relate to the future of all
community gardens, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will go ahead and
press his claims. As a statewide elected official the Attorney
General has legal standing in the court and subpoena powers that are
not readily available to the representatives of special interest
groups. It was apparent as the auction compromise was formulated that
the Mayor wanted the court cases dropped. Instead, Mr. Spitzer's case
will move ahead and perhaps provide relief to some of the other
threatened gardens.
SHOULD GARDENERS INSIST ON QUALITY HOUSING?
While most New Yorkers credit the NYC Partnership and Nehemiah
Housing programs with bringing renewed life to devastated local
communities, recent persistent complaints about the quality of the
homes have led to a reevaluation of the housing construction programs
by the Mayor's office. City Limits Magazine has reported that in
interviews with 134 Partnership homeowners, there were complaints
about leaky roofs, crooked staircases, balky heating systems,
improperly installed pipes, and backyards that looked like junkyards.
In response to these complaints and to decreasing amounts of buildable land, the Giuliani administration is developing guidelines for increased population densities in four to seven story buildings, instead of cheaply built row houses. In addition, the Partnership and HPD plan changes in design criteria, mandating larger rooms and amenities like wrought iron gates.
While the pendulum may be swinging to planners that favor "apartment house" type construction, many New Yorkers have responded positively to the human scale of the new neighborhoods, if not the housing quality. Home ownership was promoted in these programs over investment housing because people tend not to destroy homes they "own and live" in. History also shows that neighborhoods built to a human scale, like Fort Greene in Brooklyn, fared better in the disinvestment era than dense apartment house communities, like those in the Bronx. In New York City, communities that saw the most disinvestment were those with the least public open space.
Join your Community Board's land use committee. Fight for quality affordable housing and open space.
APPEARANCE COUNTS!
Community gardens that look best still have the best chance of
preservation. Among decision makers, housing or commercial
construction often takes precedence over open space preservation.
However, the condition of the open space may be given great weight
among those who decide. Our gardening community, including the
citywide greening groups, the citywide and local preservation
committees, and now even some broader-based urban environmental
groups are each working in their own ways to preserve as many gardens
as possible. Gardeners are helping by fighting hard in a political
way and by trying to make their gardens as public and beautiful as
they can. Dominoes and card playing in community gardens are a great
thing, but the "practical people" who will decide will be looking for
flowers, landscaping, game courts for children, and open hours as
measures of community support.
There is a diversity of opinion among NYC citizens as to whether all community gardens are worthy of preservation. NOSC has long recognized that New York is unique among American cities for its lack of public open space, and thus almost any community maintained public space fills an important function. Our view is not likely to prevail in the continuing preservation campaign. For those "gardeners" who create community in other ways, we suggest you start by growing thousands of easy to grow marigolds, then begin to mix them up with perennials, shrubbery, fruits, berries, and a diverse assortment of other plants that will beautify the neighborhood. The greening groups will help. Call: Council on the Environment (212-788-7900) Green Guerillas (212-674-8124) Brooklyn GreenBridge (718-622-4433) or Bx GreenUp (718-817-8018) or GreenThumb (212-788-8059)
CAN TOURISM BE BOOSTED BY GARDEN PRESERVATION
It is not surprising that New York City's community gardens have
become national and international tourist destinations. The verdant
oases in the concrete desert are antithetical to the perceived image
of the city. Like the side-show in the circus, the gardens attract
attention because they display oddities. However, rather than the
discomfort we feel when people are on display, it puts city dwellers
and visitors at ease when a break in the intensively built
environment of the most densely populated city in America yields to a
space that offers a respite of ponds, shade and picnic tables, or
just farm crops instead of a hyper-paced urban lifestyle.
Urban Outdoors Bulletin
No. 42 May 21, 1999
NOT A VICTORY... A BREATHING SPACE
Twenty-four hours before 112 community gardens were to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, a collaborative of funders purchased the green oases in order to protect them as green spaces in perpetuity. More than 600 gardens remain threatened, with the Mayor having absolute power to destroy 62 of them, as they have already passed through the ULURP process.
Community gardeners celebrated and breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that these will be the last gardens that will have to be rescued in this way. Historically, private funding has been used to purchase private land to hand over to the public sector. This action was analogous to the government selling Yosemite to private funders in order to protect it. The funders who contributed to the rescue included: LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust; a fund of the NY Community Trust, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Frances & Benjamin Benenson Foundation, Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation, Dorothy and Lewis Cullman, Rose and Sherle Wagner Foundation and NY Restoration.
Trust for Public Land (TPL) and New York Restoration will now need time to develop the entities that will permanently manage the gardens. A few gardeners, fearful of change, seek a future in which there will be little accountability and few standards. Others recognize the danger of developing a system of private parks which exclude the general public. Andy Stone of TPL reports that "urban land trusts and government entities around the country have similar standards for public access and programming." The change in status of the gardens can provide an opportunity to attempt to understand and overcome the legitimate criticism of some of our opponents.
A COMEDY SCRIPT WITH A BITTERSWEET ENDING
It would have been great fiction! A self-centered unhearing villain wanted to wipe out 20 years of community service by thousands of New Yorkers. The mean spirited Mayor considered the gardens little more than vestiges of the unstable "communist" sixties to be erased from our civic memory. The contest to save the community gardens assembled a huge and diverse constituency of gardeners, good government types, church people, environmentalists, social justice groups, philanthropists, and colorfully dressed activists. Together, they exposed the lie of the Mayor's "gardens versus housing" arguments and woke up almost the entire populace to the threat to their quality-of-life posed by the plan to sell the spaces.
The comedy climax was the "Earth Shaking Protest" where almost 1000 New Yorkers assembled, some dressed as fruits or insects, to watch 62 New York heroes get arrested to the sound of a festive brass band. At one point hundreds of flowers were being tossed into the ring where the sit down strikers were located. The "strikers" threw them back to the chanting crowd so that they could be tossed again. As the protesters were handcuffed by smiling police officers, they stood up in the paddy wagon and joined the chant, shaking the police van up and down like a child's toy.
While months of letter writing, demonstrations, public testimony and legislative initiatives failed to move the Mayor, a cliff hanger court injunction stalled the auction and opened the way for renewed negotiation with Trust for Public Land. In the end it was NY's own bath-house angel, Bette Midler, who provided the extra money needed to save ALL the gardens. While the city celebrated the rescue of over 100 verdant green spaces from certain doom, over six hundred gardens still have questionable futures, and the Mayor has shown no evidence that he cares about the gardeners' work.
COURT CASE CONTINUES
The issues brought before the courts relate to the future of all community gardens and thus, at least some of the litigants will go ahead and press their claims in court. The entry of State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer into the fray is especially significant. As an elected official he represents all the people of the State. He has legal standing in the court and subpoena powers that are not readily available to the representatives of special interest groups. It was apparent as the cliffhanger compromise was formulated that the Mayor wanted the court cases dropped. Instead, they will move ahead and perhaps provide relief to some of the 600 other threatened gardens.
NEXT STOP FOR GARDENS: ALBANY
A faulty (ULURP) process for disposing of city owned land made it possible for the Mayor to put mature community gardens on the auction block. Changing that process requires the acquiescence of the State Government and thus the next staging ground for garden preservation becomes Albany and our State's Governor and Legislature.
While several pieces of garden preservation legislation have been introduced in the State Legislature, it is not yet clear which will move forward. Please call your state Assembly Members and Senators and ask them to support Community Garden Preservation Legislation. To find out who your representatives are please call the League of Women Voters at 212-674-8484
AN EARTH CELEBRATION
It begins with the biggest bluebird you've ever seen jumping from a tree and ends with a long aerial flight from the top of a lower east side tenement. The twelve hour Earth Celebrations Pageant is part carnival, part theater, and part ritual ceremony. Join on Saturday May 22 1999, at 10 am at Broome and Delancey to get your costume, or just dress up in your own floral outfit. Come down to Tompkins Square Park at any time during the day and begin your search for the parade which winds around the surrounding streets. This is New York's most original and least commercial big parade, and it celebrates our thriving community gardens. (See Calendar for more about gardens)
GARDENS OR GARBAGE: MORE EVIDENCE It was Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden's report that helped the media understand the destructive nature of unrestricted auction of gardens. He presented statistical evidence that lots purchased at auction stay blighted for years. Even land given to builders for immediate construction often stays fallow. In Coney Island, gardens bulldozed years ago again attract drug dealing and crime. Sometimes developers get control of sites long before financing is in place to build the promised homes.
Cynthia and Haja Worley, the Harlem gardeners who have been working citywide for preservation, have brought us additional evidence that gardens once bulldozed often become empty lots. "The George Brown Garden, bulldozed six months ago is now a huge cavern. The site of the ex-129th Street Community Garden is now being used as the launching place for a series of burglaries as the garbage piles up." Cynthia told us. Their Project Harmony' s one remaining site has mature fruiting trees that attract scores of songbirds, and children flock there to learn about the feathered critters. The Worley's would like to work a deal with the City that would exchange the developer-owned land for a truly vacant Harlem lot. "We have plenty of land to build on," Cynthia said. "The developer has told us that he is willing to deal".
Garden Preservation Update
EXTRA May 1 1999
An "Urban Outdoors" special report on the citywide garden preservation campaign compiled by Neighborhood Open Space Coalition with the support of the City-wide greening organizations, local gardens and neighborhood support groups.
MAYOR TO CITY'S GARDENERS:
DROP DEAD
Rejecting a $2 million Trust for Public Land (TPL) offer to
buy community gardens if the scheduled May auction was
delayed, Mayor Rudolf Giuliani's office said that funders
can purchase the spaces at the auction if they wish.
However, TPL and its partner funders were looking for the
kind of public/private partnership that exists in other cities
and were clearly disappointed with the City's response.
Two independent reports from city staffers indicate that the Mayor wants to destroy community gardening because two lower east side activists unfurled a garden preservation banner at his inaugural.
CITY COUNCIL PASSES PRESERVATION
LEGISLATION
New York's City Council passed a resolution in support of
community gardening in it's April 28th full Council meeting.
A companion bill (Assembly No A-8124) has been
introduced in Albany that will require an additional home-
rule message from City Council. It will also require Senate
passage, and that would be more certain with a
Republican sponsor. Upon passage of the bill and the
home rule message a complicated puzzle of legislation will
be in place that can put an end to the unilateral sale and
destruction of gardens in New York City. While this action
is not expected to stop the May auction it will slow or stop
future garden sales and it will send a strong message of
support for community gardening to the Mayor.
Readers should call State Legislators and ask for their
support.
WILL THE GOVERNOR STEP TO THE PLATE?
An organized attempt to get Governor Pataki to assist
with garden preservation is being spearheaded by the
League of Conservation Voters and Natural Resources
Defense Council. Short phone calls to his NYC office
(212-681-4580) could be of help now to get the Governor
to step in. Governor Pataki has long been a supporter of
open space preservation in NY State, and might welcome
an opportunity to work for urban open space protection.
LAWSUITS PRESS FORWARD
A number of city agencies have received requests for
information from law firms that are representing community
gardeners, garden supporters, and even elected officials.
The Freedom of Information requests are a preliminary
step that will gather facts necessary to proceed with
litigation to protect gardens from auction. Legal experts
are pursuing the city on a number of different grounds,
including discrimination against minority communities, and
failure to follow due process before disposing of gardens.
It is expected that lawsuits will be filed next week. It is
hoped that the planned May auction of gardens will be
delayed in order to consider the legal issues.
EARTH SHAKING PROTEST AND CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
It may sound angry but it isn't. It will include a brass band
and, as usual, people in costume. This will be the last
opportunity before the scheduled auction to show that
large numbers of people support community gardening.
We will be there in force. We hope to see all of the
readers of Urban Outdoors.
STOP THE AUCTION
EARTH-SHAKING PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Wednesday, May 5 at 5:00PM
Borough of Manhattan Community College
199 Chambers Street
(Subway to Chambers or City Hall & walk west)
For more information, contact:
Brooklyn Alliance of Neighborhood Gardens (718) 399-
9425
Lower East Side Collective (212) 529-1590
More Gardens! Coalition (212) 330-6851
We note that some people will choose to participate in a ritual arrest at this demonstration. Those people will be engaged in a separate action and participants in the larger demonstration need not be part of the arrest action.
THE HUMAN FACE OF A NYC COP
NOSC got a call from a NYC police officer last week in
reference to one of our organized walks. In conversation,
the issue of community gardens came up. The officer
noted that he began his career on the lower east side, at
a time when the place was completely devastated. "I
didn't know what I was doing there" he said. "Slowly", he
reported, "the gardens started to replace the garbage.
The flowers seemed to sap the meanness out of the
streets. If the Mayor understood what these gardens
meant to the communities, he would not be doing this
terrible thing."
Please Help Save Community Gardening.
Call Councilman Vallone at 718-274-4500:. Then call
YOUR City Council member.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition
Rm 508
71 W.23rd St.
New York, NY 10010
212-352-9330
For Up-to-date information on the Garden Crisis Join Cyberpark. Write "subscribe cyberpark" to: listserv@treebranch.com
"Robert Moses' public appeal had always been based
largely on his identification with the magic word Ôparks'
.. Now in a single dramatic tableau, he had been shown
to be utterly, unmistakably wrong..." Bringing bulldozers to
a small corner of Central Park "was such an insignificant
thing" Moses' staffer Sid Shapiro would say "but it was
never the same after that..."
-Excerpted slightly out of context from the Power Broker
by Robert Caro,
Chapter 42, The Loss of Power.
Margot Adler's story "The Garden Wars" aired on NPR's "All Things Considered" on Thursday, April 22, 1999 at 5:50 PM
PROFILE:
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announces land temporarily used for urban gardening to
be auctioned off.
NOAH ADAMS, host:
Today is Earth Day, an occasion marked by various official declarations of the need to protect and cherish the environment, and that includes the urban environment. Last spring, New York City announced that more than 100 community gardens would go on the auction block this coming May. New York City's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says there's a need for development and that the gardens were always temporary. Now as NPR's Margot Adler reports, city gardeners are organizing to save their plots of land.
MARGOT ADLER reporting:
On a beautiful April day, Mary Jones--who will not tell me her age, only that she is not yet 65--shows me around the Bainbridge Street community garden in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
Ms. MARY JONES (Gardener):
That tree behind you here--look at this tree. That's a mulberry tree. They are so delicious, but they fall all over everything. We grow tomatoes, we grow some string beans, green beans, we grow okra.
ADLER: Oh, the strawberries are already beginning.
JONES: Move your shadow back a little bit.
ADLER: Yeah, you can already see the...
JONES: You can see the strawberries coming up.
ADLER: There are about 20 individual boxes for planting inside a padlocked iron fence. Around the perimeter are benches and chairs for people to sit and relax. This garden is tended mostly by elderly African-Americans; the oldest is 89.
JONES: This lady who has this box, she's 85. The lady that has the box that has the strawberries, she's about 87 or 88. Did you sign our petition?
Unidentified Woman: Huh?
JONES: You know the mayor's trying to get these gardens away from us, right?
ADLER: Mary Jones has successfully planted cotton and peanuts in this garden. Children from the surrounding public schools have visited. Many had never before seen cotton on the bush.
For decades, many hundreds of community gardens have flourished in New York, as in other cities, many of them blooming in abandoned vacant lots. For years, communities could lease these gardens temporarily under the Green Thumb program. Through the program, they could obtain plants, soil, manure and tools. While the gardens were always seen as temporary, to be bulldozed should housing to be built on those spots, many gardens became institutions over the years, symbols of neighborhood involvement and community pride. Gardeners argue that they raise food for the homeless, they provide nature education for city children and occupations for the elderly, that the gardens increase safety and create a sense of community.
There have been several public hearings about the gardens. At the last of these, this woman, Elsie Richardson, spoke for many.
Ms. ELSIE RICHARDSON (Gardeners' Spokesperson):
I say to you that I was born in this city in a tenement 77 years ago today. I could be spe...
(Soundbite of people cheering)
Ms. RICHARDSON: I could be spending my time dancing a jig somewhere, but I feel that it's important to be here to say to this city, `Save our gardens.' Thank you.
ADLER: There have been demonstrations, rallies, even a sit-in where 30 people got arrested at City Hall. At the most recent rally, adjacent to the New York Public Library, even Pete Seger lent a hand.
Mr. PETE SEGER (Singer):
I'll sing that last top line again. (Singing) `The Bedford may be dirty now, but she's gettin' cleaner every day.' We are going to have tens of thousands of gardens in New York in a few decades.
(Soundbite of people cheering)
ADLER: But Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has a different point of view. He has repeatedly said the land could be better used for economic development. At a news conference, Mayor Giuliani said those who insist the gardens remain are unwilling to keep a deal, and they're the kind of people who believe in failed economic systems.
Mayor RUDOLPH GIULIANI (New York City):
The deal here was you get it for a temporary period of time. Well, temporary is over now and now we're trying to find housing for people, we're trying to create commercial development and I think you see a lot more economic development in communities that never had it before.
ADLER: The gardeners argue that the housing authority doesn't consider most of their lots appropriate for housing and that the history of such lots sold at auction is they remain vacant and become dumping grounds. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who expanded the Green Thumb program under his administration, says it's one thing if you require that anyone who buys a lot create housing or development, but otherwise, he says...
Former Mayor ED KOCH (New York City):
It's speculation. And then the mayor's attitude, which reflects his usual attitude at critics, is to demean them and demonize them.
ADLER: Back in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Mary Jones says she's mystified why anyone would want to take away the gardens of what she calls `poor city farmers.'
Ms. JONES: Somehow, whether you feel good or whether you feel bad, we come down here and we don't know when we get tired and we work together. We have not had one harsh word with each other over the years.
ADLER: In recent days, the city has given several gardens reprieves, but the auction is still set for May. Some city officials are introducing legislation to protect the gardens, but at this point, no one knows how many gardens will be auctioned nor how decisions to sell or not sell will be made.
Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.
Urban Outdoors Bulletin
No. 41 April 16, 1999
E-Mail: dave lutz
Together with Urban Outdoors Bulletin, NOSC's monthly
electronic newsletter, and Garden Preservation Update,
New Yorkers can keep informed about the citywide effort
to preserve and maintain our public space.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
71 W. 23 St. New York NY 10010
Phone: 212-352-9330
Fax: 212-352-9338
See bottom of page for more information about joining.
With the auction of over 100 community gardens to speculators scheduled for early May information often stays current only for hours. The best place for up-to-the- minute details is Cyberpark, NOSC's interactive listserv. To subscribe write: "subscribe cyberpark" to listserv@treebranch.com
COUNCIL TO ACT ON GARDEN PRESERVATION
Thanks to a huge outpouring of public support and an
increasing amount of national and local media attention
that is being focused on the plight of NYC's community
gardeners, City Council legislation posted to preserve
gardens is expected to be passed out of committee to go
to full Council on Monday, April 19. If Council acts quickly
the bills could be passed in the April 28 full Council
session. While the legislation in itself would probably not
stop the planned auction of gardens, new wording makes
clear that that is the intent of Council. This legislation
would send a message to the Mayor of broad support for
the green oases. Council supporters include Council
Members Fisher, Carrion, and DiBrienza. State legislation
to preserve gardens has also been introduced in the
Albany Legislature by a block of members including
Senators Montgomery and Sampson and Assembly
members Brennon and Millman. A vote of support for
gardens from NYC Council would also be helpful in getting
Albany legislation passed.
Write or call Councilman Vallone and your Council Member. Ask them to fast track garden preservation legislation. Also ask your state legislators to fast track State protective efforts. Support legislation and see your City Council in action. Observe the proceedings on either meeting day.
SENATOR SAMPSON URGES STATE TO LAUNCH
GARDEN PROBE
In a letter to Attorney General Mark Spitzer, Brooklyn's
State Senator John Sampson has urged that the legality of
selling community gardens at auction be investigated. It is
illegal to sell park lands without approval of the State
Legislature, and the case-law sometimes does not require
that a park agency hold title to the land. Rather use and
recognition of the use are the common law standards for
the establishment of park lands. The NYC Department of
Parks administers the GreenThumb Program and has
administered the land for a period over the last several
years. The gardens have provided needed recreational
facilities to communities that are critically short of park
space.
Please Thank Senator Sampson for his continuing efforts on behalf of community gardening. Write Attorney General Spitzer and ask him to prevent "alienation" of community gardens.
HEATING UP THE STREET
With the success of the "Standing our Ground"
Conference and Rally on April 9th and 10th, followed by a
guerrilla action by an activist group blocking traffic on
Sunday April 11th, garden groups are seeking other
creative ways to get their story out. Over 1000 people
took part in one or another of the weekends events.
Organizers of the on-the-street actions include NYC
Garden Coalition, NY Environmental Justice Alliance, NYC
Sierra Club and Reclaim the Streets.
Another major demonstration is planned for May 5, the date that the final auction plans are announced. The organizers stress that while people are expected to be arrested at the demonstration, an opportunty to leave will be presented to those who don't wish to be detained. The text below is from the organizers of the event:
STOP THE AUCTION
EARTH-SHAKING PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Wednesday, May 5 at 5:00PM
Borough of Manhattan Community College
199 Chambers Street
(Subway to Chambers or City Hall & walk west)
For more information, contact:
Brooklyn Alliance of Neighborhood Gardens (718) 399-
9425
Lower East Side Collective (212) 529-1590
More Gardens! Coalition (212) 330-6851
While negotiations with the Mayor have not yet been broken off, there is no news of a compromise in sight, and once the gardens are auctioned, most gardeners believe nothing can be done to save them. Therefore legal actions by Green Guerillas, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund are also contemplated.
Urban Outdoors Extra
Annual Review Preview
March 25, 1999
E-Mail: dave lutz
Together with Urban Outdoors Bulletin, NOSC's monthly
electronic newsletter, and Garden Preservation Update,
New Yorkers can keep informed about the citywide effort
to preserve and maintain our public space.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
71 W. 23 St. New York NY 10010
Phone: 212-352-9330
Fax: 212-352-9338
See bottom of page for more information about joining.
Nosc Pushes Hard To Preserve Community Gardening
It was evident early in this Mayoral administration that a pushing match was possible on the issue of garden preservation. Mayor Guiliani was committed to selling off City assets, and in NYC, land is oil. With the sale of WNYC to a private foundation and a commercial entity, and the failure of the attempt to sell our water supply, focus was changed to selling off the City's land portfolio. Selling a radio and television station turned out to be an easy matter compared to the City's scattered land holdings which were controlled by an overlapping collection of agencies with "plans" to use the land. Apparently, things did not move fast enough for the Mayor.
In Spring of 1998, NOSC announced in a Garden Preservation Update headline that was to be quoted all over town: "Mayor Issues Death Certificate to Community Gardening." The action that led to the headline was the consolidation of all undeveloped land into NYC's development agency. In the Mayors mind, community gardens were undeveloped city land.
In NYC, it takes a village to raise a storm, and the outcry for garden preservation has come from all quarters. Of course, a collection of ad hoc and not-so-ad-hoc groups were formed around the issue. Greening Groups including NOSC, Green Guerillas, and Trust for Public Land took a lead role in the advocacy campaign. Civic associations, Community Boards, Local Development corporations, national environmental groups etc. have all chimed in for garden preservation. While at times there has been conflict between approaches of the disparate groups, the truth is that all roads need to be traveled and the new generation "flower people", "suits", and everyone in- between have important roles to play in the ongoing struggle to save community gardens.
Now, many of NYC's elected leaders are joining the fight for garden preservation. Legislation to save gardens has been introduced in both Albany and City Hall, and efforts have been made to negotiate with the Mayor. In Washington, a presidential initiative to save both urban and rural open space was announced in the State of the Union message. As this is written the Mayors Office is on a collision course with most responsible governmental officials, but unfortunately has sole power to determine the fate of many of our City's green oases.
"Community gardens are places where people come together across lines of race and class, where generations mingle. Places where people learn about nature and each other, refuges from the pollution and noise of the city. They are non-commercial spaces in a city whose every surface is being sold to make a buck. They are community centers that are truly community controlled. Jayne Doe invites you to take action against the forces of greed and order who are working to privatize these unruly, vital, public spaces."
Urban Outdoors Bulletin No. 39 - March 3, 1999
E-Mail: dave lutz
Together with Urban Outdoors Bulletin, NOSC's monthly
electronic newsletter, and Garden Preservation Update,
New Yorkers can keep informed about the citywide effort
to preserve and maintain our public space.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
71 W. 23 St. New York NY 10010
Phone: 212-352-9330
Fax: 212-352-9338
See bottom of page for more information about joining.
Preemptive Strike Against Gardens?
Say It Isn'T So Mr. Mayor:
Officials both within and outside city government have reported that Mayor Guiliani plans a preemptive strike which will bulldoze 130 community gardens before the planned May auction that will sell them to the highest bidder with no requirement that the land be put to other uses. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, whose borough contains more community gardens and less parkland than any other, has released a carefully researched report that indicates that city land sold without requirement to build most often is used for automotive uses and reverts back into junk-filled lots. As the vise tightens on community gardening in the only city in the United States that does not value the spaces, gardeners are turning to City Council to assume its role as check and balance on the Mayor.
City Council Introduces Garden Preservation Legislation
A complicated package of garden preservation measures has been introduced in City Council by Council members Adolfo Carrion of the Bronx and Ken Fisher of Brooklyn. The legislation includes measures to prohibit unrestricted auction of gardens, and proposes to amend the City Charter to put a sunset clause on old "ULURPs". Land Okayed for sale by the ULURP process more than fifteen years ago is the source of the Mayor's ability to sell community gardens without the approval of Council or Community Boards. "We are also pursuing legislation in Albany" Mr. Fisher told a gathering of gardeners and civic association members at the Municipal Art Society "City government is answerable to the State government and it is possible that Albany will have the last word." While it is doubtful that this legislation can stop the May auction, passage can create another "broad-based" point of pressure on the Mayor in the form of a coalition of elected leaders.
Gardeners and New Yorkers who wish to retain the spaces now have the responsibility to inform their Council Members of their support for the measures (If you do not know who your Council Member is, call League of Women Voters at: 212-674-8484). Also, ask your councilperson to call Deputy-Mayor Lhotta's office and ask him to remove gardens from the auction list. Only elected officials should call Mr Lhotta, for too many calls may hurt our cause.
It is also important that citizens call Council Speaker Vallone ( 718-274-4500) and ask him to "fast-track" the legislation, as it is possible that the Council process may move more slowly than Mayoral initiatives.
Garden Activists Arrested In City Hall
The young people of the More Gardens Coalition have appeared at each of the four recent rump hearings aimed at meeting the legal requirements for sale of the property that the gardens are using. They were not hard to recognize, dressed as brightly colored flowers, insects and fruits. While the handcrafted paper signs of school children were confiscated by the Mayor's heightened security forces, the removal of "More's" very visible show of support for community gardening would require an instruction to undress, and apparently the police were unwilling to order that action.
This property disposition process has highlighted conditions at City Hall Park, where a $25 million "historic" reconstruction has been joined by the installation of pedestrian-inhibiting concrete barricades. Citizens now have to approach an armed police officer, sitting in a marked police car for permission to enter the park or the seat of government, and only get that permission if they have "business" in the building. The front stairs of City Hall, designed as an inviting entrance to one of the most beautiful public buildings in America, are no longer open to entrants. Instead citizens are required to enter a dingy basement to be electronically frisked.
Considering the calm in the state of American democracy compared to other periods in history, the amount of time and money invested in protecting the government from the people must be off-putting to the most genteel of citizens. To the rest of us, including the exuberant young people of "More" it is cause for rebellion. It is not surprising that More, upon leaving the last of the series of "phony" hearings burst out into a chant of "More Gardens, More Democracy" that echoed throughout the building. The chant was a signal to police, who locked the building, awaited reinforcements, and arrested the flowers and vegetables. To reach More Gardens! Coalition: (212) 330- 6851.
"Stand Our Ground" Conference And Demonstration
Hold the Dates:
April 9th and 10th
Gardeners and supporters will be gathering for a garden
preservation rally and conference being organized by the
NYC Garden Coalition, NY Environmental Justice Alliance,
The Sierra Club and with the support of other groups. For
information Call 212-420-8651
Rudy Garden Plan Doesn't Hold Water
By Lisa Rein
NY Daily News Staff Writer
02/26/1999
Mayor Giuliani promised yesterday that affordable housing will be built on many of the community garden plots headed for the auction block this spring but the city's housing agency nixed the idea months ago.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which builds low and middle-income housing in abandoned buildings and on vacant lots, declined to develop the 126 city-owned lots that neighborhoods have converted to community gardens.
"They've decided the properties should be passed off to us to be auctioned off to the public," said Patrick Muldowney, spokesman for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which sells off abandoned city property.
A recent study of city property auctioned in Brooklyn showed 17 of 440 lots were developed after five years.
As 30 gardeners arrested Wednesday for protesting the May auction were arraigned yesterday in Manhattan Criminal Court, Giuliani said returning vacant lots to the tax rolls will promote economic development in poor neighborhoods.
"The reality is, we need more housing in the city," he said. "If you keep these properties tied up, [minority neighborhoods] will never move to a higher level of more housing, more commercial development, more jobs."
All but one of the protesters charged with misdemeanors for staging a sit-in at City Hall declined an offer to have their records wiped clean in six months if they don't get arrested again. They are due back in court April 5.
Officials from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development declined comment.
Garden-Lovers Arrested at City Hall Sit-In
The New York Times
February 25, 1999
By Dan Barry
With some wearing insect outfits, flower-bedecked hats and mischievous grins, two dozen people staged a sit-in on the marble floor of the City Hall lobby Wednesday to protest the Giuliani administration's decision to auction off more than 100 city-owned lots that neighborhood groups throughout the city had converted into community gardens.
Thirty people were arrested in an odd encounter between protesters carrying kazoos and police officers wearing riot gear. When the officers realized that the only physical threat would be to their backs -- from lifting limp bodies off the floor -- they removed their helmets and began carrying the protesters out a back door to a waiting police van.
Calling themselves the More Gardens! Coalition, the protesters went to City Hall -- ostensibly to attend a public hearing on the issue -- with packets of information for the press, protest songbooks and an orchestrated plan to fax announcements of the protest to the news media at the very moment the demonstration began.
The demonstrators left the Council hearing en masse and walked down City Hall's circular stairwell to the first floor, with intentions of staging a sit-in on the steps of City Hall -- a place the Police Department has declared generally off limits, alleging a concern for security. Police officers locked the front entrance to the building to thwart the protesters, then pointed to a back exit. Instead, the demonstrators plopped on the lobby floor to sing and rail against the Mayor.
When the demonstrators ignored orders to leave, the police began the arrests, on charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration.
The first to be arrested wore a multicolored hat worthy of Dr. Seuss. The second had hair dyed blue. The third was dressed like a ladybug.
The protesters also carried an idiosyncratic interpretation of the law: namely, that it was illegal for Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani not to attend the hearing at which they planned to voice their grievances. When they learned that the Mayor was in Washington and not on the premises, they threatened to stay put until Giuliani returned.
A frisson of nervous energy ran through the 45-minute confrontation at times, with people giggling, shouting encouragement to one another and singing of the glories of gardens to the melody of "We Shall Overcome." But the protest reflected the deep-rooted anger engendered by the administration's plan to sell off the properties. Where some neighborhoods see abandoned lots transformed into verdant symbols of community pride, the city sees excess public property that might be sold to promote economic development.
More than two decades ago, the city agreed to allow local groups to convert the lots into gardens, with the understanding that the arrangement was temporary. "When these parcels of land were given to the community for the purposes of gardening, it was well known to them" that the city would someday reclaim the properties, said Colleen Roche, the Mayor's press secretary. "This doesn't come as a surprise."
In some neighborhoods the lots sprouted weeds and little else; in others, they became miniature Edens. But whatever serenity they created evaporated when the city recently announced plans to auction 480 parcels in May, including 112 that had been converted into gardens. Yesterday's hearing was the fourth and last opportunity for city residents to voice their feelings on the matter; city officials said yesterday that they would consider the public response in determining whethjuer to remove some of the lots from the auction list.
"The purpose of the auction is to create economic development in neighborhoods, to create housing," Ms. Roche said. "The people protesting today would be the first to protest the lack of affordable housing or jobs in the city."
But spokesmen for several organizations that champion the virtues of open space, from Greenthumb to the Trust for Public Land, have denounced the decision as insensitive and shortsighted, while the Bronx Borough President, Fernando Ferrer, has dismissed it as a "cake sale."
City Councilman Adolfo Carri—n Jr., of the Bronx, plans to propose a bill that would prohibit the sale of community gardens unless they are to be used for low- and moderate-income housing.
Gardens Flap Growing - Giuliani to auction 126 plots
By David Lefer
Daily News Staff Writer
From the Daily News
February 21, 1999
One hundred twenty-six community gardens across the city face destruction if the Giuliani administration carries out its plan to auction them off in May as part of a package of city-owned land parcels.
In response, a burgeoning, citywide grass-roots movement, supported by national environmental groups, has sprung up to oppose the plan. The anti- Giuliani sentiment has united community gardeners, neighborhood activists and local politicians who are gearing up to make their voices heard in the city's final public hearing on the auction this week at City Hall.
"We want as many people to come out for the Feb. 24 meeting as possible," said Gerard Lordahl of the New York-based Council for the Environment. "It's a last-ditch effort."
Mayor Giuliani has dismissed his opponents as stuck in "the era of communism."
In all five boroughs, community garden supporters are holding late-night strategy meetings, signing petitions, planning rallies and talking of civil disobedience, if necessary. Local elected officials, especially in Brooklyn, are outraged that the Giuliani administration did not consult them about which local parcels would go on the block. In the past, the city had sought community advice on property transfers or sales.
"In 1998, community boards and gardeners were basically taken out of the oop," said Craig Hammerman, district manager of Community Board 6 in Brooklyn. "No notice. No consultation."
Even officials who support auctioning some of the gardens were galled by the unannounced policy shift. Community Board 6 had reached an agreement with the city last fall to turn its 12th St. garden into a Sisters of Mercy hospice for developmentally disabled teens. The plot now is slated to goto the highest bidder.
City Council Speaker Peter Vallone (D-Queens) wrote Mayor Giuliani that his plan "does not suggest a well-thought-outpolicy direction."
City Hall says low-income housing will be built on many of the sites. Officials say there is no guarantee that will happen.
Howard Golden, the Brooklyn borough president, recently released a report showing that lots sold by the city usually remain garbage-strewn eyesores for years.
"Based on my study, once auctioned, most vacant lots not only remain underdeveloped, but become dumping grounds for unauthorized vehicles and garbage," said Golden.
Brooklyn officials worry that the loss of 56 of the borough's 250-odd community gardens - about twice as many as listed for auction in the Bronx, with 31 - will contribute to an already acute lack of green space. Brooklyn has 1.7 acres of open space for every 1,000 people, according to figures prepared by the citywide Neighborhood Open Space Coalition.
That's less than in any other urban environment in America. Boston has four acres per 1,000 people. Philadelphia has more than six.
City officials say the sale is an opportunity to expand the tax base and cash in on the city's surging real estate market. According to a Daily News analysis of city records, the least the city could make from sales of the 126 gardens is $3,620,000.
A fair-market value for all of the properties, say land-use experts, would be at least twice that amount. In other words, the city stands to make at least $7 million.
"Is $6 million to $7 million a lot of money? Yes, but what are the other costs?" asked City Councilman Stephen DiBrienza (D-Brooklyn). "The gardens have enormous community value that should not be discounted."
Last week, the Community Board 6 Parks and Housing committees voted unanimously to to ask the city not to auction the Gil Hodges Memorial Garden, which is used by nearby Public School 372 for writing projects and science experiments, as well as four other gardens in the area.
All of Board 6's gardens are on the auction block. Their sale, say advocates, would fundamentally alter the face of the community.
"This land is valuable, there's no doubt about it," said the Rev. Roderick Crispo of Our Lady of Peace Church, which cares for the Gil Hodges Memorial Garden and pays for its maintenance. "But this is important, too."
Whether any of the gardens up for auction can be saved remains uncertain.
"Don't put your faith in the courts," said Leslie Lowe, executive director of the New York Environmental Justice Alliance. "This is a political issue. We have to bring the political pressure to bear."
The City Council has vowed to oppose any moves by the mayor to auction the city's remaining 600 community gardens without local feedback. According to sources, a motion to protect community gardens is planned at Thursday's City Council meeting.
State legislators also are trying to save as many gardens as possible. State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery is introducing a bill with Assemblywoman Joan Millman, a fellow Brooklyn Democrat, that would allow not-for-profit groups to purchase gardens using state funds.
"The ruination of community gardens will destroy more than flowers, trees and branches," Montgomery said. "It will repress a community spirit that compels neighbors to do good for one another with a hoe, a trowel and a great deal of tender, loving care."
The following are copies of correspondence (sent to me February 11/99) between a concerned citizen and the Mayor's office.
Original Message:
"I can not believe, as I sit here and read this on the website, www.cityfarmer.org, that you are destroying gardens in your city. History will recall your leaving office as the mayor who destroyed many of the city gardens. What a way to go down in history. Ken Hargesheimer, Lubbock, TX"
Reply:
"Dear Mr. Hargesheimer:
I write on behalf of Mayor Giuliani in response to your E-mail concerning
community gardens.
Please know that these gardens were created under the Department of Housing
Preservation and Development's Greenthumb Garden Program. This program
provides for the temporary use of City-owned vacant property.
At the same time, the City is committed to developing affordable housing
for homeless, low, and middle-income families. Unfortunately, issues
involving the use of open space have engendered a polarized debate that
often pits the need for affordable housing against community gardens. The
goal of this administration is to build a balanced policy that recognizes
the need to develop more affordable housing and to create more permanent
open space.
The City often works to make alternate sites available to community gardens
that have been slated for development. In fact, since 1994, this
administration has converted 1,487 acres to permanent parkland.
Thank you for writing and sharing your views with us at NYCLink.
Sincerely,
Cristyne F. Lategano
Director of Communications"
If you would like to send another message to the Mayor, You may either send another message to GIULIANI@WWW.CI.NYC.NY.US or click on the feedback link on the Mayor's home page at http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/misc/html/feedback.html.
Garden Preservation Update
February 11, 1999
E-Mail: dave lutz
Together with Urban Outdoors Bulletin, NOSC's monthly
electronic newsletter, and Garden Preservation Update,
New Yorkers can keep informed about the citywide effort
to preserve and maintain our public space.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition / Friends of Gateway
71 W. 23 St. New York NY 10010
Phone: 212-352-9330
Fax: 212-352-9338
See bottom of page for more information about joining.
Urban Outdoors Bulletin No. 38 - February 11, 1999
The State Of The Gardens: Thorny
The Daily News noted that the Mayor's "State of the City" address called for six new sports stadiums for NYC. (Urban Outdoors wrote about the Mayor's stadium obsession in May 1998, when only four fields were planned.) The commentary noted that if you gave a little boy enough lego blocks to build his ideal city, it would probably contain six stadiums and no community gardens. When asked about gardens in a press conference, the Mayor was quoted as saying "Welcome to the free-market economy, this is the post-Communist era". As the Mayor's plan to auction 130 of the City's gardens in May 1999 moves forward, the press has begun to note the unilateral nature of the affair, and how the Mayor is perfectly willing to be flexible for his "friends". In a page one story about a nepotistic lobbying effort which provided privileged parking for limousines for wall street bankers the News noted that "while the era of communism may be over... the era of influence peddling has just begun."
Meanwhile, City Council Speaker Vallone may be taking action to prevent future garden dispositions, while Council members have been telling garden advocates that they do not have the power to save the gardens that are presently planned for auction. Increasing numbers of people are suggesting that gardens be purchased and placed into a land trust. However, gardens in this auction alone could cost over $8 million, and there are doubts that kind of money could be raised. Gardeners are talking about mounting a conference/ demonstration that could bring in National supporters, and call attention to the garden's plight. Some greening groups are trying to strengthen Albany based legislative action, and still others are trying to reach the Mayor through influential "friends and supporters". Please help save community gardening. Call Councilman Vallone at 718-274-4500:. Then call YOUR City Council member.
Plan to Kill Gardens Has Kids in Full Bloom
Daily News 2/3/99
Our mayor has closed the front steps to the public, so the police officer directed Adrianne Murray and her 17 second-graders to a side door leading to the basement of City Hall. A second officer directed them through a metal detector.
"The girls thought their earrings would set it off, so they started grabbing their ears," Murray recalls.
The officer did not fail to notice that the teacher was carrying a large garbage bag.
"He said, 'Do you have signs?' " Murray recalls. "I said, 'Signs?' I thought I was in trouble right there. Finally, he stuck his head in the bag."
The officer beheld 17 small signs bearing such messages as "We Want to Keep Our Garden" and "We Don't Want Anyone to Sell our Garden" in tempera paint.
"He said 'No,' we absolutely could not bring them there," Murray says. "I said, 'But this is children's work.' "
Murray then asked the officer to stick his head back in the bag so she could take his picture.
"He said, 'Why?' " she recalls. "I said, 'So we can put it on the bulletin board and discuss why signs are not allowed in.' He said, 'How would you like it if somebody took your picture?' I said, 'If it was for teaching, I'd say yes.' "
Their signs impounded, the youngsters from Brooklyn's Public School 287 followed Murray up to a chamber on the second floor. A man sat at a huge table behind a nameplate reading MAYOR, but he was only a stand-in from the public hearings unit. He remained as impassive as one of the chamber's marble busts as citizens spoke with impassioned eloquence against the mayor's plan to auction dozens of city-owned lots that have become community gardens.
Then, the second-graders got their turn. Seven-year-old Jatima Floyd offered two reasons against the sale of Block 2099, Lot 43, the 105-by-24-foot garden in Fort Greene her class hopes to plant and tend come spring.
"When Mother's Day comes, I can give all of the mothers in Brooklyn a flower and my class can make the neighborhood look very nice," she said.
The mayoral stand-in actually smiled. Jatima was followed by her twin sister, Jatina, who had her own reason the garden was vital.
"So the neighborhood homeless people can have some food," she said.
The stand-in smiled again, and yet again when 8-year-old Mark Edwards testified. Had the man behind the MAYOR sign actually been the mayor, the class might have accomplished its mission. The youngsters left the chamber as perfectly behaved as when arrived, and only the sternest adult would not have been charmed when the airy splendor of the main staircase made them a touch giddy.
"We get to go down the stairs," one exclaimed.
The youngsters reached the first floor sounding like merry sprites, and the main front doors seemed to invite them to dash out and go laughing down the front steps. The mayor's new security procedures dictated otherwise.
"We have to go to the basement," Murray said.
The youngsters grew silent as they filed down into the