A lot of reasons to visit community gardens this weekend

The 4th Annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival is this weekend. Here are some highlights via the EVG inbox…

• Jack Hardy Songwriter's Exchange
Saturday, 1-7 p.m.
DeColores Garden, East Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C
--> In 1970's Greenwich Village, Jack Hardy wanted to write more songs, so he got a group of like-minded souls together. Everyone agreed to write a song a week. Decades of pasta dinners, a crop of legendary careers, and thousands of brand new songs later, the group continues to meet with an ever-shifting cast of wildly various characters aged 8 to 78, representing every genre of music.

• Martian Harvest Moon Annual Dance Party
Saturday, 5-10 p.m.
Dias y Flores Garden, East 13th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B
--> Live Afro-Cuban music by local musicians, Ray Santiago and Friends.



• Faith
Sunday, 7 p m.
Green Oasis Garden, East Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D
--> "If Nina Simone had a power trio with a rock/soul and reggae flair, it would sound something like this." (Doug DeFalco, Talent Buyer, Southpaw).

• Hayes Greenfield and the Gravity Unplugged Trio
Sunday, 1-3 p.m.
6B Garden, East Sixth Street and Avenue B
--> Hayes Greenfield, the innovative jazz musician and long time East Village resident, brings his Gravity Unplugged trio back to celebrate the LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival. From inside to outside and everything in between, Hayes and Gravity Unplugged deliver an unpredictable journey through jazz.

The opening party for neighbors and community gardeners is tonight from 6:30-9, La Plaza Cultural Garden, East Ninth Street and Avenue C.

You can visit the LUNGS website here for the full listing of events and more details.

Art installation opening and garden party tomorrow hosted by students with autism

Eight middle school students with autism who attend The SPECTRUM School (housed in PS188 building on East Houston) have created planters that will be on display starting tomorrow at The Dorothy Strelsin Memorial Community Garden on Suffolk Street...

Here's the invite from the students:

Hello,

Our class is fantastic! All kids are nice. Everyone works hard and has fun. We do a great job. Come to our art opening! — Written by middle school students with autism, who are busy changing the world.

The overarching idea of this project is to empower middle school students with autism to contribute to the community through functional public art by creating four 20 gallon planters for a New York Restoration Project garden on the LES. Special thanks to local artist Chelsea Hrynick.

Here's their work...





Teacher Joshua Steinfeld says that the planters, which also glow in the dark, will be on display for three weeks at the garden ... and one of the four planters will remain there permanently. The garden is on Suffolk Street between East Houston and Stanton. The opening tomorrow is from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.

Get your 'Uncommon Plants' today on East 12th Street

Today from 10 am to 1 pm
El Sol Brillante Community Garden
522-528 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B

Details here.

CB3 shows support for a Community Gardens District; now will City Council do the same?

[Hope Garden on East 2nd Street]

Via the EVG inbox yesterday morning…

If gardeners have their way, Community Board 3 (CB3) will soon be the recipient of a Community Gardens District that will include all 46 remaining community gardens located within its boundaries; a plan spearheaded by the Coalition to Establish a Community Gardens District. They aren’t talking about the manicured version associated with the New Orleans Garden District but, rather, the home grown, gritty version we all know and love that’s particular to everything East Village and Lower East Side!

On Thursday night, CB3 voted overwhelmingly in favor of establishing of this plan with a vote of 28 to 1.

The Coalition says community gardens have a deep rooted history in CB3 and the distinction of having the very first one in the City started in CB3 by resident and visionary environmentalist, Liz Christy, in 1973. Christy’s name is legendary in the national and international greening movement. She reclaimed and repurposed hundreds of vacant lots through her leadership and work with the Green Guerillas, which she co-founded and is the City’s oldest gardening organization, and the City’s Council on the Enviornment, which she founded and headed and is now known and branded as Grow NYC.

Once there were over 60 community gardeners in Community Board 3 but only 46 remain. Of those owned by the City, the Coalition says none are permanent or receive dedicated budgets to address infrastructure needs. Gardeners and their growing list of supporters, want CB3’s community gardens mapped and designated as park land — which would then take an act of the state legislature to be used for any other purpose; designated as a special district to acknowledge their unique and well-earned place in the City’s history; and management left in the hands of community based volunteers which has proven to be a successful model of operation for over 40 years.

The District plan will next go before City Council. You may still show your support for preserving community gardens by signing this petition.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your chance to help create a Community Gardens District

Your chance to help create a Community Gardens District

[EVG file photo of Orchard Alley on East 4th Street]

Community Board 3 (CB3) member Bill LoSasso, who's a community gardener, passed along the following letter...

As you may know, a Coalition has formed to pursue permanence of the community gardens within the boundaries of CB3. Our community has an wonderful abundance of community gardens which provide numerous environmental, ecological, cultural, social, historical, aesthetic, and economic benefits, and more, to our neighborhoods.

If you believe that these gardens are valuable assets to our community that deserve every type of protection possible, please take 20 seconds to sign the petition below as we pursue the cause of having all gardens declared parklands and designated as part of a designated Community Gardens District. Once designated as parklands, it would take an act of the New York State legislature to alienate the land for a use other than open space.

Help preserve community gardens right here.

And here are more details from the petition...

CB3 is the birthplace of community gardens in New York City and New York State. In 1973, the first garden was established in CB3 by local activists who worked to reverse years of decline and neglect by public and private property owners.

At one time, there were 57 registered community gardens in CB3, and dozens more operating independently. As the neighborhood evolved, however, numerous gardens were bulldozed as development proceeded.

Today, there are still 46 community gardens located in CB3 — the highest density in New York City. Community Board 3 has been strengthened by the history of its community gardens, which provide environmental, cultural, aesthetic, ecological, economic, and artistic benefits to this community, and more.

A lot of things to do in community gardens this weekend

[EVG file photo of Orchard Alley on East 4th Street]

Via the EVG inbox...

Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is hosting its 3rd annual Harvest Arts Festival this weekend — a celebration of the arts, community gardens and Loisaida.

On Saturday, 30-plus community gardens throughout the East Village and Lower East Side are hosting performances in music, dance, poetry, comedy, spoken word, the arts, environmental workshops and teach-ins, and more.

On Sunday, the Festival gets on its feet as gardeners march together in the People's Climate March en masse.

Find all the info right here.

Need plants?

As the sign says... today from 10 am.-1 p.m. at El Sol Brilliante, 522-528 E. 12th St., between Avenues A and B.

King Tut evicted from tomb on East 8th Street

An EVG reader spotted this in the De Colores Community Yard & Cultural Center on East Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C…

Word here is that his tomb is being converted into a 3-bedroom apartment with roof deck. Per the Streeteasy listing, the apartment will feature "high-hat lighting, exposed brick and old world charm."

The LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival continues today

[The 6BC Botanical Garden]

The second annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens continues today in a community garden near you... Here's a detailed schedule (PDF).

One programming note: Jim Power broke his right hand last week when he was thrown from his scooter after hitting a pothole on East Ninth Street and Avenue A ... Regardless, he wanted people to know that his free mosaic workshop today from 2-4 will go on as scheduled at the 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden. "So everyone who would like to be introduced to the art of mosaics please come on down for a wonderful afternoon," he said.

This month: A lot of community garden plays and art on the Lower East Side

From the EVG inbox...

1) COMMUNAL SPACES: A GARDEN PLAY FESTIVAL

This September, five short plays inspired by and performed in Lower East Side community gardens will take place. The 2013 version of writer, director and native New Yorker Lillian Meredith's Communal Spaces marks the outdoor festival's third annual installment. Meredith, whose body of work uses site-specific productions to "explore the boundaries of performance and the role of the audience in live theater," has commissioned five 30-minute plays. Each takes place in a different Lower East Side community garden.

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 13-15, 20-22 and 27-29. Each play is 30 minutes.
For more info, visit lillianmeredith.com. Admission is FREE. No
reservation needed.

Schedule: Fridays - Sundays: Sept. 13-15, Sept. 20-22, & Sept. 27-29.

11:00am - Tim and Tuna in Town.
Written by Josh Gulotta, Directed by Jaki Bradley
Siempre Verde Garden on Stanton and Attorney Streets
(no performance on Sept. 14)

12:30pm - Extinguish Yourself
Written by Angela Santillo, Directed by Michael Padden
Miracle Garden on East 3rd Street btw Aves A and B

3:00pm - Yield!
Written by Will Arbery, Directed by Stella Powell-Jones
All People's Garden on East 3rd btw Aves C and D

4:00pm - CO . OP
Written by Patrick Shaw, Directed by Lillian Meredith
Parque de Tranquilidad on East 4th btw Aves C and D

6:00pm - Limoncello Limoncello.
Written by Alexandra Bassett, Directed by Lillian Meredith
Green Oasis Garden on East 8th btw Aves C and D

Find more details here

2) LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens)
SECOND ANNUAL HARVEST ARTS FESTIVAL IN THE GARDENS

Saturday, September 27 & Sunday, Sept. 28
24 Community Gardens
Loisaida / The East Village / The Lower East Side / The Village

WHAT TO EXPECT

A multidimensional arts festival that reflects the creative spirit of the neighborhood and the integral part that community gardens play in the culture and life of Loisaida. Scheduled events include music, dance, performance, films, photography, puppets, environmental workshops, yoga. Each garden is designing its own program, so we know it will be interesting.

In addition, The Communal Spaces Play Festival, five 30-minute plays inspired by the selected garden landscapes, will wrap up its three-week run during the Harvest Arts Fest.

We hope you'll join us for an hour, a day, or the full weekend.

WHAT IT COSTS
Nothing. Nada.

HOW IT HAPPENS
The 2013 Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens is organized by LUNGS (Loisada United Neighborhood Gardens).

This year's festival is sponsored in part by a generous grant from The Citizens Committee for New York City.

Find more details here.

Claim this space on East Third Street

These signs recently arrived on the fence of the empty lot on East Third Street just east of Avenue C... providing information on how you can use this space... Members of 596 Acres recently posted these ... (the Brooklyn-based group of gardeners have identified vacant lots throughout NYC ... they want to help empower local residents to take them over and make the land something useful and green ...)



The city owns this property... according to DOB records, the city approved plans here in 2008 for a four-floor residence. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development is listed as the owner. No word on the status of those now five-year-old plans.

Meanwhile, someone made it easy to access the lot...



Read more about 596 Acres in this Times feature from April 2012.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at the dwindling number of East Village lots

Making music tonight on East 8th Street

From the EVG inbox ...

Green Oasis Community Garden is hosting a series of free concerts as a part of the Make Music New York festival. The Garden is on East Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. Organizers tell us that they'll also be a silent auction with donations from neighborhood merchants and friends of the garden.

7th annual Lantern Fesitval tomorrow afternoon

In the Green Oasis Community Garden on East Eighth Street between Avenue C and D...

This weekend: Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens

From the EV Grieve inbox... news release slightlty edited...

The "Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens" will take place this weekend in community gardens on the Lower East Side. Each participating garden is designing its own unique and multidimensional arts program, and it’s going to be a very eclectic mix of music, dance, performance, and visual arts and workshops — from jazz to comedy to making mud balls to an art rumble competition. The Festival is free and open to all.

The Festival will kick off with an opening night party:
➢ Friday evening, October 5, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., at La Plaza Cultural, Ave C & 9th Street
The Festival will continue in community gardens:
➢ Saturday, October 6, from noon until 5 p.m.
➢ Sunday, October 7, from noon until 5 p.m.

The following 24 gardens have already signed on, and more are expected to participate:
• Dias y Flores, 13th St between Aves A & B
• Vamos a Sembrar, Ave B between 12th St & 13th St
• El Sol Brillante, 12th St between Aves A & B
• Children’s Garden, 12th St & Ave B
• Campos Gardens, 12th St between Aves B & C
• 11th St Community Garden, 11th St between 1st Ave & Ave A
• 11BC Garden, 11th St between Aves B & C
• Toyota Children’s Garden, 11th St between Aves B & C
• 9C Garden, Ave C & 9th St
• La Plaza Cultural, Ave C & 9th St
• DeColores Community Garden and Cultural Yard, 8th St between Aves B & C
• Earth People Garden, 8th St between Aves B & C
• Fireman’s Garden, 8th St between Aves C & D
• Green Oasis and Gilbert's Sculpture Garden, 8th St between Aves C & D
• Sam & Sadie Koenig Garden, 7th St between Aves C & D
• 6B Garden, Ave B & 6th St
• Generation X, 4th St between Aves A & B
• El Jardin del Paraiso, 4th St between Aves C & D
• Parque de Tranquilidad, 4th St between Aves C & D
• Orchard Alley, 4th St between Aves C & D
• Kenkeleba House Garden, 2nd St between Aves B & C
• Peachtree Garden, 2nd St between Aves B & C
• Le Petit Versailles, 2nd St between Aves B & C
• Children’s Magical Garden, Norfolk & Stanton Sts

The Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens is being organized by LUNGS (Loisada United Neighborhood Gardens). For Festival updates go here.

The Secret Garden, or a Private Garden?

As you saw in the above post, the "Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens" will take place this weekend in community gardens throughout the Lower East Side.

One space that won't be taking part: The Secret Garden on Avenue C at East Fourth Street. The garden has been closed since late June.

After the closure, the following signs were posted (since removed) noting some of the forthcoming improvements that "will enhance the experience for our children and their families."

[Click images to enlarge]

According to the sign, "The Secret Garden will become a more welcoming place where each and every member our our diverse community may enjoy the quiet pleasures of green space, especially our children."

The sign goes into detail about a "community member who has been at the center of the controversy involving the many violations in the garden." The sign's author has also taken note "of the many violations with the garden, including illegal outhouse, storage of lighter fluid, fires, alcohol, smoking, dumping or urine, and the disturbing noise levels."

The Secret Garden was tentatively set to re-open on Aug. 4 "beginning with an orientation for membership followed by an open house for the community at large." (There will be a $20 membership fee.)

Two months later, the Garden is still closed. And it currently doesn't look too differently from the photos taken earlier in the summer after it closed...

Of course, all these developments are not sitting well with nearby residents who formerly had access to the Garden. One resident said that this was a "beautiful garden that was fully maintained by an existing community of mostly Puerto Rican senior citizens from the neighborhood — lovely people ... always warm and friendly."

Another tipster claims that this group have been displaced, and will not be invited back to revamped Secret Garden.

Claim this land!

You know the empty lot over on East Second Street near Avenue D...?

Anyway, there are now signs on the Second Street side providing information on how you can use this space... Members of 596 Acres recently posted these ... (the Brooklyn-based group of gardeners have identified vacant lots throughout NYC ... they want to help empower local residents to take them over and make the land something useful and green ...)

It's a great opportunity to do something with this space... the surrounding area won't be green for too much longer. Behind this property... the Karl Fischer-designed, 33-unit apartment building is under way where 316-318 E. Third St. used to be... workers demolished the circa-1835 house back in March.

And to the east of this plot... on the corner of Houston and Avenue D ... a big development is in the works... But this particular parcel will remain empty, as I understand it...


Read more about 596 Acres in this Times feature from April.

Plant sale today at El Sol Brillante

At El Jardín del Paraíso today

El Jardín del Paraíso ... between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, Avenue C and Avenue D... More info on the community garden's history here. Photos by Bobby Williams.

At the Farmers March today in the East Village

The Occupy Wall Street Farmers March started at the La Plaza Cultural community garden this afternoon at Ninth Street and Avenue C ... the group — some 250 strong — planned to march through part of the neighborhood to Zuccotti Park ... Bobby Williams was there for the first leg of the march....