A public hearing regarding the new proposed community garden rules was held on August 10 at the Chelsea Recreation Center at 430 West 25th Street and attracted protesters and gardeners from across the city who felt the language did not go far enough to protect the gardens.
Organizations like the Community Garden Coalition (CGC) are not happy with the proposed rules and stated so in a letter to gardeners and garden supporters:
“NYCCGC is firmly in opposition to these proposed rules because they threaten all gardens on city property with development and do not offer the same protections as the 2002 Community Gardens Agreement.” According to the letter, CGC urges supporters to demand rules that would make community gardens permanent and allow pathways for the creation of more gardens.
The recreation center was filled to capacity as elected officials and concerned citizens had their chance to speak to Parks Department officials. Karen Washington, president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition, also testified.
“The mayor must protect the city’s gardens so that they can’t be auctioned off to the highest bidder,” she said.
Community gardens and the Green Thumb organization formed as a result of landowners who were defaulting on their taxes and abandoning property in the 1970s. Local residents began to “seed-bomb” these locations with the intentions of beautifying the areas and eventually earned a license from Mayor Ed Koch for volunteers to maintain the areas. Currently, there are 40 community gardens in Queens – most of which are a fraction of an acre – that would be affected by the proposed rules.
A spokesperson for the Parks Department said that no updates to the proposed rules have been made as of yet.
