Several community groups and gardens are holding a town hall meeting tomorrow to learn more about and discuss the new GreenThumb licensing agreement. Here's more info via the EVG inbox...
Our community gardens are under threat again. This time not from bulldozers, but from new rules under a GreenThumb licensing agreement that if the gardeners sign, will change the focus of community gardens forever.
LUNGS, the community garden coalition, MORUS and Time's Up! are holding a citywide town hall to discuss the license agreement.
This new license contains many regulations, restrictions and new obligations that will change how we operate. GreenThumb appears to be taking on the role of an enforcement agency rather than garden-friendly enablers. This is very disconcerting to gardeners who volunteer their time and spend their own money to maintain city property.
It took the City more then four months to put this license together. Gardeners should be allowed more than one month to evaluate a document we are being asked to sign.
The LUNGS website has a copy of the new agreement, with the changes highlighted here. Some garden members worry that sections of the new license might discourage gardens from hosting events and even planting trees or installing rainwater capture systems.
The meeting takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at 10th Street.
8 comments:
Great initiative!
Save our gardens!
Not a garden member, but I read the license with interest. It seems, in part, to be addressing the perception (or reality?) that some gardens are run more like private clubs with irregular hours and difficult/unwelcoming processes for new members. Changing that to increase public access seems like an entirely reasonable goal.
Yeah, it seems okay except for the fundraiser limit and 30 day notice. What’s the threat?
While different gardens may have some different practices and some may have room to improve in terms of open hours and being welcoming, the proposed changes (70+ pages of new rules!) are a dramatic over-reach and would seriously impede the ability of these volunteer-run organizations --which receive no funding or staffing from the Parks Dept. -- to operate. They set all the gardens up to fail which could have serious repercussions for the respective neighborhoods. The proposed changes would be devastating in terms of the culturally productive nature of the gardens and the ability to have spontaneous events and continue their long history as community creative zones.
Amy, concerned garden member and community member in EV
Does anyone besides me think this could be ploy from city hall to close some of the gardens and sell them to developers? DeBlasio is running for President and he will be asking developers for money to fund his run, "how about 5 community gardens in the E Village for 5 months of campaign funding?". We can't trust city hall as it is selling of public, tax payer owned property to build places like Hudson Yards. Be wary.
Surely it's just you. Did you read the document? Yes there are some changes that will make certain things more difficult and others better.
Some provisions such as only two fundraisers a year is overreach but I agree with the prior poster in that some, not all, gardens are run like a private space for those who hold the key. Some gardens definitely do not comply with the minimum operating hours and if you happen to wander in when they're open it's like you're stepping into their personal living room. Everyone wants the gardens to stay but they should be for the benefit of the whole community, not just a select few.
Instead of being so negative about entering gardens why don't you join and help be a positive change and keep the gardens around?
I'm a garden member and I always welcome visitors and encourage them to join.
Post a Comment