Garden Preservation Update!
August 27, 1997
Update on slated destruction of half of the 776 community gardens
throughout New York City
Last fall, as half of the 776 community gardens throughout New York City
were threatened by development plans, gardeners from the Lower East Side,
the Upper West Side, Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx united and formed The
New York City Coalition For The Preservation Gardens. The coalition has
mobilized thousands of gardeners, residents, and elected officials to work
together and speak out in defense of the gardens and demand their
preservation as vital ecological treasures for generations to come.
The City has failed to acknowledge that after 20 years, that these gardens
have become more than temporary use of vacant land. These gardens have
totally transformed neighborhoods riddled with abandoned buildings and
neglected rubble-strewn vacant lots that had become dens of crime, drugs,
and toxic waste. People worked together out of their own volunteer
initiative to improve their neighborhood, clearing away the rubble and
planting trees, flowers and vegetable gardens. Over the past quarter of a
century these gardens have also grown into more than needed green open
space, they have become living multi-cultural community centers bringing
people from diverse backgrounds together in neighborhoods that are often
divided racially and culturally. As the City slashes the budget for social
services and cultural programs, these gardens are providing millions of
dollars worth of social services free of cost to the city.
It is a fact that many of the gardens in New York City are currently
threatened with destruction by city auctions by City-wide Administrative
Services and the HPD cross-subsidy plan, which plans to build mostly
market-rate luxury development, that will destroy the gardens, as well as
displace the low-income population.
The Subcommittee on Permits, Dispositions, and Concessions hearing on
August 26, 1997 at City Hall. Over 30 members of the New York City
Coalition For The Preservation of Gardens, representing community gardens
in Harlem, the Lower East Side, Upper West Side, Brooklyn, and the Bronx,
attended and testified in opposition to item #1430 and item #038098. No one
realized at the hearing, however, that the agenda included other gardens
in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Even with our presence, and Council Member Tom
Duane's further questioning of the HPD representative about the lots on the
agenda, and his attempts to disinguish which items were in fact gardens,
these gardens were voted to be demolished, yet again because no one in that
room identified them as gardens!
The practice of only listing the lots by block and lot for efficiency
purposes, is only efficient to mislead all those who are trying to
represent the people of New York City and undertand what they are voting
on. The result of this process is meaningless votes, fraud, deception, and
a baltant disregard for the democratic process and the lives of people and
neighborhoods in this city. HPD from Greenthumb the information, listing
which lots are gardens. Both HPD and Greenthumb should be required to
inform the gardeners of these plans and hearings, and to inform the council
members who are voting.
It was clear at this hearing that the group of people in attendance
intended to testify to save the gardens, yet the representative from HPD
never identified these other sites on the agenda as gardens, even during
Council Member Duane's questioning on this issue. How can elected officials
be voting on the history, future, and lives of people living in these
neighborhoods, without knowing what it is they are voting to do. This is an
outrage! The practice of not identifying these lots as gardens is the
reason these votes have passed, and we urge the City Council to recall all
votes pertaining to gardens, until a full review of these items is done
with community input, a visit to the gardens, and a full environmental
impact study.
There has been a lack of a proper and just public review process for the
disposition of these gardens for sale and development. Gardeners in all of
these neighborhoods were never notified by their local community boards,
city agencies, or developers of their plans. In fact, community boards and
city agencies only list the gardens by block and lot numbers, making it
difficult for community residents to track their gardens through the review
process, and confusing for the community board and City Planning Commission
members to comprehend that they are voting to release gardens, and not
vacant lots for development. Since 1995, Earth Celebrations, the
non-profit environmental art organization on the Lower East Side that
initated the formation of the coalition, has had to decipher community
board agendas, translating block and lot numbers into names of gardens to
be voted on at community board meetings and contact the gardeners who would
otherwise never had known the fate of their gardens. In some, cases, there
was no public review process on a community level, as specific garden lots
were placed into the accelerated UDAP process.
The improper and unjust handling of the hearing on August 26th is not the
first time. In fact, there has been a lack of a proper and just public
review process for the disposition of these gardens for sale and
development on all levels of city government in the supposed public reveiw
process, from the community board to the City Planning Commission, to the
City Council. Gardeners in all of these neighborhoods were never notified
by their local community boards, city agencies, or developers of their
plans. On April of 24, 1997, the Land Use Committee and The Subcommittee on
Permits, Dispositions, and Concessions voted to approve the destruction of
the Mendez Mural Garden on 11th Street between Avenues A & B and the 10th
BC Garden for middle/market-rate development plans by HPD. The surprise,
once again is that this vote was unanimous, and that many supporters of the
gardens, including elected officials and mayoral candidates who appeared at
these particular gardens for a rally in support of their preservation,
actually voted for their destruction. Gardeners believe that this vote was
once again a case where representatives did not know that they were voting
to release gardens for development. In fact, Sal Albanese, sent a letter to
the coalition stating "the bill referred to the land in question as
'blighted vacant lots' not the thriving community gardens that they are.
Had the true nature of the legislation been apparant, I would have surely
voted against it." Council Members Tom Duane and Adam Clayton Powell Jr.,
while supporters of the gardens, also voted to demolish them, because of
the misrepresentation of the item. As usual the gardens were only referred
to by block and lot numbers, as well as being combined with numerous other
items on the agenda. It is obvious that first level of the democratic
process does not work and does not represent low-income communities in New
York City.
Another example of this unjust public review, is when in September 1995,
the local community board #3 on the Lower East Side voted to release 6
magnificent gardens for market rate development. On Monday September 11,
1995 at the Housing/Land Disposition/Zoning/ NYC Housing Authority
Committee meeting, CB3, with 5 present members ( 6 absent) voted to
approve 9 sites for the Housing Partnership RFQ. The nine sites listed
include the Green Oasis & Gilberts Sculpture Garden on 8th Street between
Avenues C & D (block: 377 lots: 18, 20, 22, 24,25), the 9th Street & Avenue
C Garden (Block: 379 lots: 53-56), the 10th Street Garden between Avenues B
& C (block: 393 lots: 28-32, 41-44), 9th Between Avenues C & D Garden
(block: 379 lots: 53-56), and the Suffolk Street Garden (block: 349 lots:
1-08, 12, 13) . On September 19th, 1995 the full community board reaffirmed
this vote. The vote passed, with garden supporters voting also for the
development, because the vote was misrepresented, confusing because again
the gardens were listed only by block and lot numbers, and people were told
they were voting to release vacant lots, NOT GARDENS. The Community Board
vote was never rescinded despite massive protest and an acknowledgment of a
mishandling of the vote by the Borough President's office.
In addition, last spring the coalition organized, and gardeners and local
residents appeared at several City Planning Commission hearings regarding
the release of numerous gardens on the Lower East Side for development and
sale at auction. Many of the gardens concerned were to be sold at auction
by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, although these
gardens are too small for any development and there were no plans for these
lots. The gardens after years of hard work by local residents, could thus
be sold and turned into a parking lot. It was an outrage, when after
gathering hundreds of people over the months to appear at community board
meetings in support of the gardens, negotiate with city and elected
officials, that the City Planning Commission would finally vote to release
gardens that had no development planned for the sites. I was told by a
member of the City Planning Commission who was extremely supportive of the
gardens, that there was once again confusion during the vote and that some
members admitted they did not realize that were voting to release the
gardens, they had intended to vote to save. After this unjust vote, we were
finally were able to push for a City Council review and possible veto. At
that point, Commissioner Diamond agreed to remove several gardens from the
auction list.
On April of 24, 1997, the Land Use Committee and The Subcommittee on
Permits, Dispositions, and Concessions voted to approve the destruction of
the Mendez Mural Garden on 11th street between Avenues A & B and the 10th
BC Garden for middle/market-rate development plans by HPD. The surprise,
once again is that this vote was unanimous, and that many supporters of the
gardens, including elected officials and mayoral candidates who appeared at
these particular gardens for a rally in support of their preservation,
actually voted for their destruction. Gardeners believe that this vote was
once again a case where representatives did not know that they were voting
to release gardens for development. In fact, Sal Albanese, sent a letter to
the coalition stating "the bill referred to the land in question as
'blighted vacant lots' not the thriving community gardens that they are.
Had the true nature of the legislation been apparant, I would have surely
voted against it." Council Member Tom Duane and Adam Clayton Powell Jr.,
while supporters of the gardens all voted to demolish them, becuase of the
misrepresentation of the item. As usual the gardens were only referred to
by block and lots numbers, as well as being combined with numerous other
items on the agenda. It is obvious that first level of the democratic
process does not work and does not represent low-income communities in New
York City.
At this point, we ask for an investigation into this public review process
and an immediate halt on all plans for gardens sites, because they have
not gone through a proper and just public review process, many
representatives voting were not aware they were voting to release gardens,
and no current environmental impact study was done to assess the loss of
the gardens to the community, as well as the viability of low-density
middle/market-rate housing in 1997, in these low-income neighborhoods
throughout the city.
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