Catch up on the latest about community gardens in the news in our media round-up!
Upcoming Events
Saturday, March 24th, 9am - Persist / Resist! 2018 Just Food Unconference
Sunday, March 25th, 8:45am - Persist / Resist! 2018 Just Food Conference
The food justice movement is intersectional and complex. The theme, “Persist/Resist!”, at the 2018 Just Food Conference reflects this complexity which evokes multiple meanings and shows up in different aspects of our work and our lives. It is our hope that this theme will inspire us to explore what it means to strive for equity, forge new alliances, re-calibrate existing ones, and restore ourselves.
Saturday, March 31st, 8:30am - GreenThumb's 34th Annual GrowTogether Conference
We are kicking off gardening season and "Honoring Our Roots" for our 40th anniversary during this year's conference, celebrating four decades of supporting community gardens in NYC.
On the Radar
Sustainable cities need more than parks, cafes and a riverwalk
"[I]t is time to expand the notion of what a green city looks like and who it is for. For cities to be truly sustainable, all residents should have access to affordable housing, living-wage jobs, clean air and water, and green space. Urban residents should not have to accept a false choice between contamination and environmental gentrification."
Associated Press, 3/15/18
Locals Fight To Protect Botanic Gardens From Developer's Shadow
"The fight against a proposed 42-story development, which critics argue will cast a plant-killing shadow on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, will heat up next week with several protests planned."
Patch, 3/9/18
Mapping All of the NYC Lots Sold for a Dollar
"[T]he map showcases a wide variety of buyers taking advantage of the city’s $1 properties thanks to data from the City Records database and New York City Economic Development Corporation board meeting minutes, among others. Properties are color-coded according to whether they’ve gone to a for-profit developer, nonprofit developer or for- or nonprofit group."
Next City, 3/6/18
As Brooklyn Towers Reach for the Sky, How Big Is Too Big?
"The Draft EIS acknowledges 'significant adverse vehicular and pedestrian traffic impacts at several locations,' but says nearly all could be mitigated thanks to standard measures like changes in signal timing traffic lanes. It acknowledges that shadows from the towers could significantly affect the BAM South Plaza and a community garden, but suggests some vegetation might be changed."
The Bridge, 3/1/18
How community gardens and block associations help stem urban violence
"[A] growing body of evidence suggests that community groups have actually played an outsized, and under-recognized, role in the significant decline in urban crime across the United States and that programs that benefit local, bottom-up urban organizing may be the solution.”
Curbed, 2/27/18
Locally Grown Produce, ‘Fresh in February?’ NYC Agriculture Collective Is Working on It!
"On Tuesday evening, the NYC Agriculture Collective invited to 'Fresh in February' at Project Farmhouse to showcase how new agricultural technologies can provide city dwellers with fresh produce year-round and to build a better city, both socially and environmentally."
Bk Reader, 2/26/18
Community News
Dutch Kills Civic Association Meeting
"Steve Moreno had his current report about Windmill Park, the narrow garden on 29th Street near 39th Avenue. He said he would have a meeting for volunteers soon, as spring and the time to grow things approach. Kale, radishes, tomatoes, garlic and onions should be among the crops, all of them grown in organic soil."
Queens Gazette, 3/14/18
Brooklyn women recognized for public service in anti-recidivism, urban farming
"Denise Cosom, the founder of the Young Gents Society, which mentors formerly incarcerated young men, and Brenda Duchene, the founder of the Isabahlia Ladies of Elegance Foundation, which runs community gardens in East New York and Brownsville that provide affordable access to produce, were given the Marietta Tree Award for Public Service from the Citizens Committee for New York City."
amNY, 3/13/18
Eco City Pageant will celebrate wide array of local green efforts
"By bringing together the area’s disparate gardeners and greening activists, that pageant helped spark the creation of the Lower East Side Community Garden Preservation Coalition, which in turn became a catalyst for the citywide New York City Garden Coalition — a grassroots trajectory that succeeded in preserving more than 400 garden sites."
The Villager, 3/7/18
What Would Make Urban Agriculture in New York City More Equitable?
"Protecting access to land, especially spaces community members have already invested in, is also an issue an urban agriculture plan could help with, Santos said. Espinal said he hears from constituents 'all the time' about land issues. Many community gardens have been lost in the past two years to development or have been taken over by the city to build affordable housing."
CivilEats, 3/5/18
DOT Helps Improve Pedestrian Safety In CB 1
"The triangle, around Two Coves Community Garden, will also be expanded with curb extensions and enhanced crossings, including pedestrian warning signs at Main Avenue and Astoria Boulevard and at Vernon Boulevard and 31st Avenue. Two Coves Community Garden grew out of a Goodwill Industries project to develop a vacant 25,000 sq. ft. city property in 1998."
Queens Gazette, 2/28/18
Talkin' Trash: DSNY sets organics rules; Rubicon VP offers insights
"In New York City, the Business Integrity Commission (BIC) released a voluntary safety manual for trash haulers, and the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) finalized rules for commercial organics collection."
Waste Dive, 2/23/18
New York Today: The Lunar New Year Laundromats
"Learn about creating a mural at your community garden, with a talk by the city’s Parks Department and local artists, at Groundswell in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 6:30 p.m."
NY Times, 2/15/18
Nonprofit farm and food pantry faces closure
"Robert and Devanie Jackson created this urban farm in 2004...to provide free, local produce to thousands of hungry Brooklyn families. Soon though, these gates could close for good. 'We had a shortfall of funding to our nonprofit. We are trying to raise funds.'"
Fox5, 2/14/18
Garden Stories
Discover NYC’s Most Beautiful Secret Gardens This Spring
"West Side Community Garden, Manhattan: Just 40 years ago, this 16,000-square-foot community garden was a combination of trash-filled vacant lots and derelict buildings home to squatters. Today it’s famous for its annual tulip festival in April. “People come from all over the city to see the multicolored display of more than 15,000 tulips, all planted by volunteers,” writes Garmey."
Architectural Digest, 3/19/18
Black Farmers Reviving Their African Roots: “We Are Feeding Our Liberation
"'Black people need to return to being growers, builders, and producers, so when we’re consuming, we’re also feeding one another, and we’re feeding our liberation,' [Brown] says."
Yes! Magazine, 3/2/18
Leave It Better
"Pick up other people’s litter? This article sent me back in time. My dad made all the kids in the family fieldstrip picnic areas and campsites, and not only our own. It was a task I hated, complained about, resented … and now I pick up trash in my community garden, on beaches, along roadsides. It’s not an obsession, just a small, practical statement of love for the Earth, for my fellow humans and for Dad, who lives again in my memory with each bend and toss."
NY Times, 2/23/18
In New York, a View of Even a Small Park Adds Value
"'I won’t tell you the site was appealing just because of the community garden,' said Boaz Gilad, the chief executive and a founder of Brookland. 'But if I can give you a park, I will.'"
NY Times, 2/16/18
