Public Space Advocates offer a Proposal to HPD: swap your office for community gardens or take the 17 gardens off your #HPDLIST #Dontberudy

The other night, my friends and I were talking about the strange state of affairs regarding the community gardens the city wants to bulldoze to make way for “affordable” housing. “Developer giveaway,” “corporate welfare,” “scam” – these are just some of the terms people bandy about when you hear the tired argument that the city has to deprive the community of beloved open green space to make way for housing they cannot afford.  People want real affordable housing, not developer giveaways.  

Tired of the endless debate, housing vs gardens, a few of us thought it might be a good idea to offer HPD a proposal:

Save the 17 gardens on the HPD list or turn your lot into a garden.  For many gardeners, the HPD space is vacant of new ideas or ways to support New York neighborhoods in dire need of real affordable housing and green infrastructure. HPD likes to suggest gardens are vacant lots best used for housing.  Garden advocates see otherwise.  

So few of us drew up our proposal for HPD: 
swap your office for community gardens or take the 17 gardens off your #HPDLIST.

Form A: Completeness Checklist

✓ GARDENS

✓ REAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Proposal FORM B: Neighborhood Preferences

Narrative

1. REAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING

2. AND COMMUNITY GARDENS

Why we are here.

Thursday, February 19, 2015 is the deadline for development proposals on sites owned by the New York City office of Housing, Preservation, and Development that include community gardens. 

Our proposal is for HPD to remove these 17 active community gardens from the list of sites or turn your space into a garden.  Given the extraordinary social rate of return for community gardens – reduced crime, increased community cohesiveness, food security, resiliency and environmental action – HPD itself should be turned into a community garden. 

Community leaders and garden activists know that these gardens are not getting in the way of affordable housing.  Quite the contrary, gardens are homes to the birds, butterflies and dreams for a better city that brighten our lives. Gardens support community capacity building, reduce asthma, increase fitness, support social equity, help cool the planet, curb global greenhouse gases, reduce storm water overflow, increase biodiversity, provide fresh produce in ‘food deserts’, etc.  The benefits are endless.  And none of these issues preclude supporting affordable housing.  There vacant lots owned by HPD throughout the city that can become sites for affordable housing. Most garden activists know that supporting rent control is the best way to support affordable housing. More developer giveaways will not support long-term affordable housing, and the in this case, the short-term trade off will lead to rent increases and displacement all too soon.

There are hundreds of vacant city-owned sites NOT included in HPD's list, so there's absolutely no reason or rationale for the inclusion of these community gardens. We desire gardens AND affordable housing and they are not mutually exclusive. Moreover, the affordable housing programs where all of the sites are located have income thresholds much higher than what most people can afford. Most local people could enjoy the health-imparting social enrichment of a community garden instead of an apartment they can't afford. 

New York rejects this tale of two cities – pitting housing vs open space needs.  We need both.  We need more open spaces and gardens, especially in low-income communities. 

It’s up to you HPD, support the gardens and take the 17 thriving gardens – including Tranquility Farm, Harlem Grown, Electric Ladybug Garden, Imani Community Garden, Harlem Valley Garden, EL Garden Bushwick, and many more  - off your RFP list or turn your space into a garden.

It’s up to you.

Here's the information:

Overview: Thursday is the deadline for proposals for development on the sites that include the community gardens. We will give HPD a 'proposal' to remove the gardens from their list of sites OR turn their building and land into a garden as compensation. 

The Plan: We will bring HPD an oversized proposal. We will bring dirt, chairs, plants and other garden props to set up an "displaced garden" in front of their building. 

Message: After discussing it with a few housing advocates we need to be careful not to sound too much like 'middle-class nimbys'. In other words, get the point across that NYC needs community gardens AND actual affordable housing (and not the weak shit the've been pedaling so far). There are hundreds of vacant sites NOT included in HPD's list, so there's absolutely no reason or rationale for the inclusion of these community gardens. We desire gardens AND affordable housing and they are not mutually exclusive. Moreover, the affordable housing programs have income thresholds higher than what most people can afford in low-income neighborhoods, where all of the sites are located. Most local people could use a garden instead of an apartment they can't afford (see Jenny's blog post about it).

We need people to help us bring props, signs, dress up like a gardener, and make ourselves an HPD-garden. 

The plan is to meet at 10am, practice what we will do briefly and then bike to 100 Gold Street.

So we made some signs for the HPD Garden.

We met at 11 AM in the cold, made plans, conspired, pulled together garden materials, and created our mock community garden at HPD.

Once, we finished the garden, we sang some songs about the gardens.

This Garden is Your Garden

Chorus

This garden is my garden, this garden is your garden

From the Bronx & Harlem, to the Lower East Side

From Flushing Meadows to Dias Y Flores

These gardens were made for you and me

As I went walking to the 6^th St. Garden, I saw above me, an endless condo

I saw below me, a giant tomato,

He said, ‘These Gardens are made for you and me.’

I roamed and rambled to Paradiso, to the sparkling pond below, the garden treehouse

And all around me, the children were singing, ‘these gardens were meant for you and me.’

 

This Little Garden of Mine

I want to let it shine,

This little garden of mine,

I want to let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Struggle For the Gardens

Struggle for the gardens no it

Won’t be over

Won’t be over

Won’t be over

Struggle for the gardens no it

Won’t be over

Got a green place in my soul

Green place in my soul, oh yes

Green place in my soul

Green place in my soul, oh yes

Green place on my soul

Second verse:

Singin’ for the gardens…

Third verse:

Shoutin’ for the gardens…

(Each verse goes a little faster)

A few of us walked inside to bring a copy of our proposal to Ms. Arielle Goldberg of HPD.  We went through security and waited and waited and waited.  Someone from HPD finally said they were coming down.

At first, HPD would not accept our proposal without an envelope so we ran out in the cold to get one.

Public Space Party mastermind Ziggy explained:

“In the end, I gave our proposal in hand to Ms. Goldberg. I even had to sign an official document stating HPD received our proposal. Unbelievable!” 

Hopefully HPD will do the right thing and take the 17 gardens off the RFP list. Otherwise, the public space peeps from the gardens will be back, ready to #occupyHPD,

The community has spoken over and over again.

Save our gardens - and don't build fake affordable housing on them.

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Move the 17 gardens off your HPD list.

Otherwise, garden advocates will be back to sprout a new garden on 100 Gold Street.

We will read poems in the gardens on March 21st.
And ride through the endangered gardens on April 18th. 
Mark your calendar.