I was
digging through some of my old blogs and stumbled upon the entry I wrote last
year after the fences
went up over half the lot in our beloved Children’s Magical Garden last May. Looking at the old pictures, I
was lamenting the dialectcal nature of these spaces. Born of vacant lots and ruble of old
buildings, the neighborhood turned the lot into a garden, transforming it into
a space of tremendous use value as the Children's Magical Garden. Over time, generations of kids played in it,
the neighborhood changed, and the exchange value came to overtake the use value
of the space, possibly transforming the space again, into a space where the
gardens will be no more, if a building goes up.
But neighborhood members are not about to give up on the space without a
fight. The countervailing power of the
neighborhoods has long kept the bulldozers back.
Finishing
the post, I started to look at my email and found the following message:
Meet at garden 6:30 pm today--
We are there now so come any time
before then to keep watch. Have your cameras ready with time stamps set.
Rain location 79 Clinton St #17 bet
Rivington and delancey-- (at 6:30) we will stay at garden if no rain.
Developer acting fast before we are
able to go to court!
Email following with more details.
So, I got
on my bike and road to the garden, where Aresh and Kate, the main organizers
for the space, were standing conferring.
They explained the garden goes to
court next week in its fight. So
developers are hoping to build something before the court rules.
“Sounds
familiar,” I noted to Aresh.
“Like
Esperanza,” he chimed in.
We both
laughed recalling that battle of
February 2000, when the city went in to bulldoze a beloved
garden just hours before its day in court. And the fight transformed the
history of the garden movement.
Part of
that what made that campaign so vital was so many people joined the struggle,
dropping by in the mornings and after work for a hot co co at the fire as we conferred
about ways to save the garden, building social capital every inch of the way.
The same
thing has to happen now with Children's Magical Garden. People need to come to the garden, hang out
there, stay in touch.
Kate and
Aresh and I talked about keeping the garden whole, all of Children’s Magical
Garden, no fenes.
We talked
about Pete Seeger, who used to help gardeners defend these spaces,
singing in them, drawing attention to the magic of these spaces. He always reminded us that there are no
guarantees in history. There's no way to
be sure about anything so we'd be best suited to fight back on our own terms.
We surveyed
some
of our favorite trees, the apple tree which nourishes the space,
and the conversations we share with them.
Hopefully,
the developers do not come. But if they
do we will be ready.
This is a
space where my kids have literally grown up.
Number two played in there when she was a year old. And she played in there just last month,
hanging out all afternoon, digging in the mud, and hanging with Aresh. This is
a unique and wonderful space, the community is more than ready to fight for,
just like we have always fought.
 |
| Scenes from the kids growing up in children's magical garden over the last decade. Photos of number two and this blogger by Jefferson Siegel during a children's magical garden cleanup 2007. Bottom number two in prospect park in 2014 and top number two children's magical in 2014, just weeks ago. |
As for now,
the world needs to drop by and hang out in the garden, connecting with
neighborhoods as we defend this space. Come by before work, after work, spend an hour, chat, and connect with the world at this little corner on Stanton Street.
Children’s
Magical released a press release later that night.
What: The
developers are attempting to begin construction without any notice or warning
to the community or waiting for the legal system to look at this case.
Somehow the work stop order supported by our Coucilmember Chin was lifted
today! Very recently orange construction markings surround the
Children's Magical Garden.
Little do they know that the children and residents of the lower
East Side are ready to defend their precious little forest!
Our Councilmember Chin wants the Department of Buildings to
reinstitute the stop work order until State Supreme Court
Justice Debra Thomas makes a ruling on this ongoing case.
Details:
Thirty
years ago the Children’s Magical Garden was founded by community activists in
response to the crime that was plaguing the Lower East Side. Outraged by
the piles of garbage, used needles, and other discarded waste piled up on an
abandoned corner lot across the street from P.S. 20 elementary school, these
residents decided to take action. On a vacant corner lot, now known as
157 Norfolk Street, the Garden’s members cleared the debris and build a garden
where members host programs for neighborhood children to safely play and learn
about nature. This urban oasis has steadily grown, through cultivation
and improvement, into a cultural force that has given mentorship and inspired a
connection to nature for generations of LES children.
Recently,
however, a group of developers has emerged and attempted seize this land for
themselves. In May 2013, the developers forced their way onto the
Premises, where they trampled through the community garden, and build a fence
around the portion where the developers would like to build.
On
March 10, 2014, the Children’s Magical Garden filed an action in New York
Supreme Court, asking the Court for judgment declaring once and for all that
the Children’s Magical Garden is the rightful owner to 157 Norfolk
Street. Since then, the holdout developers have continuously sought
delays and extensions, at one point going so far as to file papers demanding a
second extension from the Court, insisting they needed more time for “intensive
factual review” and had “no choice but to ask.”
When
they finally responded, rather than answer the Garden’s complaint, the
developers moved to dismiss, which the Garden has strongly opposed, citing
documents from a 1999 court case where the developer, Serge Hoyda, “continually
demanded” that the gardeners be removed from the land and, finding his efforts
unsuccessful, ultimately agreed to waive a provision that would have allowed
Hoyda to take the land “vacant and free of any occupancy and any claim of right
of occupancy.”
Now,
confronted with the weaknesses in their case, the developers have few
options. A stop work order that protected the Garden recently lifted, and
unidentified construction crews have begun encircling the Garden, placing
ominous neon markings. With no notice to the Garden, their lawyers, or
the Court, the developers appear to be making a last desperate attempt to
obstruct this important garden sanctuary.
The
Children’s Magical Garden and its members are asking the Department of
Buildings to reinstate the stop work order, so that ownership of the land can
be fairly decided by the Court.
Sunday, Aresh left the following
message.
Dear friends, love to see you all,
There is also a 24 hour Watch and Kate & I are there most of the day
and all night ready to lock down if needed - please come by and say hello or stay
over for as long as you want! Weekday mornings are the most critical times!
I dropped by the garden after a weekend
of romping about with the kids.
After a weekend of skateboarding to and from, zipping to garrison and back, I joined Aresh, who was working getting the garden ready for whatever might come, kids or bulldozers. We hung out, talked about death, gardens, and rebirth, fixing the old swing area, digging up bricks from an old building, and reusing then, as a base for a swing for kids to hang out and swing. Its just a small part of this magical garden, which helps the city feels vibrant and real, if only for a moment in a time, as dialectical forces crash between us.
 |
| Scenes from a garden. |
From: Kate Temple-West
Dear Children's Magical Garden Supporters,
We are not usually back in your inbox so soon. Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Gardeners are on 24 hour watch right now. Stop by to say hi anytime from dawn to dusk. Afterwards we're keeping watchful eyes out too. Add yours. If you see anything that looks like people coming onto the fenced portion of the garden with machinery, call 311 and 917-518-9987 to alert us all. Take pictures and add time stamps. You can download a timestamp app to your iphone here: http://www.timestampsapp.com/ or otherwise record the time, too.
Today and Monday,
Please call Margaret Chin's office and thank her for sending a letter to the D.O.B. and ask her to keep up the pressure to have the hold placed on the work on our community garden within block 354, lot 19.
Then call Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito's office and ask her to support a hold with the D.O.B. so that we can go to court vs having a developer act peremptorily.
Here's all the numbers and a template for writing to the Speaker:
Call and thank Margaret Chin and tell them to keep the pressure up:
Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito
We cordially request your office to follow the lead of our Councilmember Chin and please ask DOB to reinstate their Stop Order on the developer threatening to destroy Children's Magical Garden's Block 354, Lot 19 until the matter is seen through by Supreme Court Justice Thomas.
Legislative Office Phone
212-788-7210 Legislative Office Fax 212-442-1564 Melissa Mark-Viverito (mviverito@council.nyc.gov) |
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