free digger
Monday, April 04, 2005
Our Gardens, Our Future
Haja Worley and Karen Washington from the New York City Community Garden Coalition. Click here for more photographs of the Our Gardens, Our Future meeting.
I went to the the Our Gardens, Our Futures meeting last Saturday, April 2. The meeting was organized by an ad hoc group called the Forum Planning Committee, which included folks from the New York City Community Garden Coalition, More Gardens!, the Green Guerillas, and at least one fellow Garden Kvetch (Hi Jon!). According to the flyer for the event, this was a citywide meeting for community gardeners to “help decide the next steps gardeners should take to meet our biggest challenges.”
Edie Stone, the director of GreenThumb, the city agency that administers the community garden program, said it most succinctly, “How do you translate a grassroots, anarchistic, rebellious movement into an institution--and still keep what’s vital about it?” She was referring to her own organization, but I think it is a challenge that we all face.
In trying to write about this, I’m faced with a lot of history to unpack. There are more than 600 community gardens in this town, served by a bewildering array of interconnecting--and frequently feuding--advocacy organizations, land trusts, city agencies, and funding foundations. Up until 2002, the main issue affecting community gardens has been basic preservation. Most gardens were hanging on from year to year, with no guarantee they would exist past the current growing season. Then, thanks to the determined and creative efforts of hundreds of activists from all walks of life all over the city, hundreds of gardens became permanent in two waves, the first in 1999, the second in 2002. I plan to write about both of these campaigns in the future.
The meeting had three parts. It began with panel discussion in which representatives from government agencies and non-profit greening organizations were asked a list of pre-prepared questions. The panelists were Tom Congden from the State Attorney General’s office; Holly Light from the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development; Edie Stone from GreenThumb; Toby Brandt from the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition (NOSC); Ursula Chance from the New York Restoration Project; and Andy Stone from the
Trust for Public Land. I’ve pasted the questions they were asked at the end of this posting. Five breakout sessions followed the panel discusson:
1. Preserving gardens still subject to development
2. Insurance
3. Fundraising
4. Membership development
5. Infrastructure
The meeting finished with report-backs from the breakout sessions and a quick recap. Karen Washington framed the meeting by welcoming people, explaining the agenda, and recapping the meeting at the end. Alex Brown did a great job facilitating the panel discussion. And Haja Worley provided spirit and passion in a brief message about the importance of our work. I’m not even going to pretend that this is a complete report on all that was discussed. I’m hoping people who attended will fill in the blanks in the comment section below.
Even though many gardens have been preserved, this issue of longevity is still on everyone’s minds. Speaking from the audience, Jack Linn, Parks Department Assistant Commissioner for Citywide Services, said, “The key to saving gardens is to be a gardener.” Land held by a community garden group needs to be used as such, otherwise it risks being converted to some other use.
But what does a gardener do? A lot more than taking care of plants. The tasks of a community garden group include membership recruitment and development, clearing litter and snow from sidewalks, maintaining garden open hours, neighborhood relations, fundraising, and more. It’s a lot of work.
The hot button issue at the meeting was liability insurance. For years, garden groups could get good, cheap liability insurance through the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition (NOSC). Year after year it cost only $250. Toby Brandt, who administers the insurance program for NOSC, was on the first panel discussion. She reported that within the past three years, the cost of the program has more than doubled, financially crippling NOSC--and creating a financial burden for garden groups. Last year, insurance rose to $425 per garden, and it’s not unthinkable that it could go even higher. Jack Linn frankly said that the city is using NOSC as a financial buffer. Sue the city, it will probably settle because it has deep pockets. Sue NOSC, and you’re going after a skin-of-the-teeth non-profit. But is that fair? Many community gardens are in low-income neighborhood. It is hard for them to come up with over $500 $425 year after year for something as intangible as insurance. A further irony for me is that this is a burden that is only imposed on gardens held by the Parks Department. Almost 200 gardens are held by private land trusts that have fundraising departments to make sure the insurance gets paid.
I was surprised to see that Holly Light was working at HPD. She used to be on staff at the Municipal Art Society, and played a key role in trying to pass some ill-fated garden legislation. In the interest of full disclosure, I was opposed to the legislation--more on that some other time. But it was interesting to see a community garden ally working for an agency that had traditionally been our adversary.
However, it seems like a good arrangement. Most, if not all, of the gardens on land still subject to development are land held by HPD. According to the terms of a 2002 settlement agreement between the city and the State Attorney General’s office, HPD must in good faith work with GreenThumb and the community garden group to find a suitable alternative site to garden if the current garden site must be developed. Holly was clear that the priority of HPD is building affordable housing. And having seen her in operation, I’m sure she’s an effective advocate for that. But she’s also able to work cordially with GreenThumb and the AG out of a shared realization of the benefits of community gardens. Edie and Tom Congden, who was also on the panel, affirmed the ease of the relationship. Of course, I get suspicious when government officials representing competing interests get too cozy. So whether they like it not, I think there’s still a role for us surly watchdogs.
Wrapping up, I want to comment on the friendliness and calmness of the event. There’s been a lot of brusing contention in years past, which is bound to happen when stakes are high and passions are strong. But community gardeners are a visionary and peaceful lot. We’re moving ahead.
ADDENDA
Questions Asked the Panelists
NYRP/TPL
- Please describe your organization and relation to the gardens
- How many garden does your organization own? How many were obtained in 1999 and how many have been added since
- Is there a possibility of additional gardens joining your land trusts and if so, how would that happen?
GreenThumb
- Please explain the licensing process this year
- Please explain the new procedures for obtaining supplies and what your reasons are behind developing this new system
Parks
- How many gardens are currently under the Parks jurisdiction, and how many are designated parkland
o What are the steps to becoming designated parkland
- Rising insurance rates are becoming a huge burden for community gardeners. Is there a way for Parks to help alleviate this burden? What can community gardeners do to help make this happens?
- Differenciating from GreenThumb, what services/communication can community gardeners from Parks
HPD
- How many gardens are still under your jurisdiction and what is your timeline to initiate the Garden Review Process with these gardens
- There are a number of vacant lots throughout the city that that are not possible to develop and that could be turned into community gardens. Is this possible and how could we make that happen?
- What are the requirements for new developments to have open space and have some of this open space been designated as community gardens?
ß Note: it’s a little unclear from the notes what the phrasing of this question should be
NOSC
- Please describe your involvement/relation to the garden insurance policy
- Do you have any update or forecast for insurance rates in the future
- What is the total cost for the citywide community garden insurance policy