Endangered City Sanctuaries

Community gardens in New York City are in danger of forced migration or worse.  New rules mark a drastic change in the city’s attitude towards these bountiful green sanctuaries. Spitzer’s “2002 Preservation Agreement” set aside the space for the now-thriving community gardens. However, the agreement is set to expire September 17, 2010 and be replaced with new rules allowing the gardens to be legally forced to move to allow development of current locations.

After a reading of the rather dense new rules, there are a few stipulations that raise eyebrows. The government is allowed to give notifications of Transfer, or change of possession to “an Other Agency” for “use other than as a garden or open space.” Strict windows of time between transfer notification and selection of an alternate location (30 or 45 days) are outlined, and missing the deadline results in the group’s loss of any lot.

The legal-speak is rather murky for gardens that do not have an alternate lot available within a half mile, stating that they are not subject to the regulations.
Also, the regulation makes clear that these vacant lots are strictly for gardening, yet “the City makes no representation or warranty of fitness of the Lot for gardening purposes.”

The community’s response is resounding, many voices joining together in a passionate plea to save these already-thriving, beloved gardens. The garden’s benefits and uses are as diverse as the people brought together through them. Friends of Brook Park gardener, Ray Figueroa, explains that most gardens are in poor neighborhoods, and are a way to fight poverty and other forms of structural oppression. Figueroa poignantly says, “Gardens offer a way for our community to heal itself and recover a humanizing sense of itself--its dignity--in an otherwise very hard city.”

There are countless ways the gardens give back to the community, including providing a much needed connection with nature, sustainable agriculture, and bringing together people from all walks of life with a common purpose. Gardening is also very therapeutic, and has been said to be meditative, offering a brief respite from urban life. Lower East Side gardener, JK Canepa, points out that this is the hottest summer on record and the gardens help cool the city. Additionally, they are a source of education about ecology and the environment for the community. New York college professor Benjamin Shepard brings his students there every semester as well as his two daughters, all of whom love the gardens. Shepard remarked that these precious spaces provide “a place to explore outside of the concrete jungle of New York City.”

Ultimately, it doesn’t seem to make sense financially to uproot the gardens, as they cost the city very little. Sharon S., community gardener in Easy New York, points out the hypocrisy between Bloomberg’s Plan 2030 to be a green city and catering to developers at the expense of the flourishing green communities.

Bill DiPaulo, TImes Up! Director, voices his vision. “This is an opportunity for Bloomberg to demonstrate he appreciates green space is a resource... Why should the mayor sell this space off to developers when there is such an opportunity to create a different kind of green, more forward-leaning New York? Making gardens permanent could be Bloomberg’s legacy.”

Times Up! (http://times-up.org/) and the garden movement is urging the city to reject the new rules and fully commit to a green city by making the gardens permanent. The group has plans ranging from direct action to legal advocacy. A “Paul Revere” group bike ride is in plans to raise public awareness.

Image by edenpictures on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing