Chronicled on this page are press releases and statements from New York City Community Garden Coalition from 2010, a very busy year for the organization and a crucial year for the community gardens of our city. It was the year in which the 2002 Community Gardens Agreement expired. Although some gardens were lost to development in this landmark settlement between the State Attorney General and the City, it was widely seen as a victory for the community gardening movement, which had been galvanized by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's attempts to auction off the land to the highest bidders. (See Where We Stand and How We Got Here, from the 2010 Community Gardeners' Forum program)
The Agreement, intended to permanently preserve the community gardens detailed, was supplanted by a new set of Rules to govern community gardens on Parks Department property (numbering over 300), which, in lieu of local law, constitute law themselves. NYCCGC and its allies took issue with the first draft of the rules released by the Parks Department, finding them lacking in the protections gained in the 2002 Agreement.
In his breakthrough testimony at the August 10 public hearing, Christopher Amato, former Assistant Attorney General and author of the Agreement, stated, "The proposed regulations are inconsistent with the Agreement and provide significantly less protection to community gardens," refuting widespread claims being made by Parks at the time.
NYCCGC rallied supporters to press conferences and public hearings and town hall meetings.
While very substantial changes were made to the Rules before they were put into effect in October – cause for celebration – NYCCGC remains vigilant, and feels there are still protections and permanency missing. And so the story continues.
Entries are posted chronologically, with the most recent at top.
Related to all that follows are the following links:
New Rules for Community Gardens on Dept. of Parks & Recreation (DPR) Property, and the very similar
New Rules for Community Gardens on Dept. of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) Property
From NYC.gov: "Parks Commissioner Announces Final Community Garden Rules Strengthening Protections for Gardens"
