Protecting and improving the community for the people who live and work here

Closing of HALO Memorial At The M’Finda Kalunga Garden

Help remember those who came before us….Create a ribbon for our fence with messages of remembrance and hope

Opening Remarks: Debra Jeffreys-Glass

Libations: Tracy L. Gray

Performance: Robert Bryan

 

 

The “Old Guard”

With thanks to:

Bob Humber & Kate Fitzgerald: Head Gardeners MKG

MKG community volunteers

K Webster and the sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition

Speakers and performances: Robert Bryan, Tracy L Gray and Asha Futterman

Emanuel Oni: HALO artist

Ryan Gilliam and the FABnyc Team

John Sloane and the Buro Happold Team

Brian Cohen and Kyle Luntz and the BEAM Center Team

Ted Enoch, Sayde Wilson and Pilar Maschi Partnerships for Parks and Catalyst Program

Tricia Shimamura, NYC Parks Manhattan Commissioner and the Manhattan Team

Terese Flores, NYC Parks, District 3 Regional Manager

 

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Farewell (For now!) Closing of HALO Memorial At The M’Finda Kalunga Garden

Farewell (For now!) Closing of HALO Memorial At The M'Finda Kalunga Garden
By M’Finda Kalunga Garden (@MKGarden) 
Inside Sara Roosevelt Park between Chrystie and Forsyth Streets on Rivington Transverse)

Overview

Join us to honor HALO’s luminous art, its legacy, and the community that makes it shine.

Join us at the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden as we gather to honor HALO — a luminous art installation that has brightened Sara D. Roosevelt Park and illuminated the legacy of the Chrystie Street African Burial Ground.

Installed in 2024, HALO intertwines African diasporic patterns and ancestral histories, transforming the garden fence into a radiant memorial and educator. For countless residents, students, and visitors, it has become both a symbol of remembrance and a beacon of safety and pride in the Lower East Side.

Due to NYC Parks requirements for art installations and their length time on display , HALO must come down before mid-November. While we continue to advocate for its permanent recognition, we invite the community to come together and celebrate the light, legacy, and collective spirit that HALO embodies.

Come share stories, music, and connection as we reflect on what this installation has meant — and envision how its message can continue to shine in the future.

About the Garden:
The M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden, founded in 1982 by local residents reclaiming Sara D. Roosevelt Park from disrepair, remains a living symbol of resilience and community action. Today, it serves as a “communal backyard” for the neighborhood, hosting cultural festivals, gardening programs, and gatherings that unite generations.

Event Details:

M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden, Sara D. Roosevelt Park
Sunday November 9,12pm-1pm

Accessible by J/Z/B/D trains and M103/M15/M21/B39 buses

Let’s honor HALO’s light — and ensure its legacy continues to illuminate the stories, history, and hope rooted in this space.

Read MoreFarewell (For now!) Closing of HALO Memorial At The M’Finda Kalunga Garden
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Roni-Sue’s Chocolates! Neighborhood Chocolatier! Open House Tonight!

Roni-Sue’s Chocolates! Neighborhood Chocolatier! Open House Thursday 10/30, 5-9pm 

Celebrating their 18th Anniversary!

 

Secret chocolate bar stash & serving up slices of Stretch Pizza and bubbly to go with it! It was delicious!!

That’s Roni Sue in the back!

 

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Partnerships for Park Community Connections Social

 

Good to see many old and new friends.

Community Connections Social last night….Manhattan Parks Commissioner Shimamura, K Webster Prez SRP Community Coalition, Michael Marino Prez of Friends of Corlears Hook Park Good to see Ted Enoch of Catalyst and Partnerships, Steve Simon NYC Parks and many more! And Shweta Patwardhan: Co-Chair MKGarden

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Last Mile Delivery Site. Bait and Switch to Amazon Across from Senior Center and Our Park. In an Environmental Justice Zone

The corporate mega -giant AMAZON has entirely taken over the commercial space on Forsyth Street directly across from Sara Roosevelt Park and the MKGarden and the BRC Low-Income Senior Nutrition Center.

 

According to a December 2021 investigation by Consumer Reports, companies like Amazon have opened up the vast majority of last-mile logistics facilities in communities of color that have long suffered disparate environmental harms like increased rates of air pollution, noise, and asthma.

Now this Last-Mile site intends to be a 24 hour loading zone.
Blue Amazon not Orange JOCO
The site was originally proposed to the Community Board 3 by a small start-up company named JOCO.

There are bills before the NYC Council to prevent these from clustering in low-income neighborhoods or NYC Parks:

  • Last-mile zoning text amendment – The special permit would set forth the following condition (among others):
    • Any last-mile warehouse must be at least 1,000 feet from any school, park, nursing home, or public housing development.
We are advocating for The Department of Transportation/DOT to move the (now) 24 hour loading zone to around the corner to Delancey between Forsyth and Eldridge – a large thoroughfare and a designated truck route.
More DATA:
Local resident and MKGardener research:
The loading and unloading signs imply that trucks are allowed to load and unload on a 24 hour basis and this is different from what was told to the community.
It should be 7AM to 7PM as per in other locations. JOCO requested extended hours but not 24/7.
Incomprehensibly,  it appears that Forsyth Street is not a bike lane or greenway.
Still, Trucks should only be on these routes:
We are proposing that all affected residents, gardeners and affected seniors consider voicing concerns with 311 and your elected officials.
 
While “Last MIle” is great in theory – but there are very real concerns that these sites are being placed in predominately low-income communities of Color.
 
And…we are a PARK that this “Environmental Justice Zone” is in desperate need of.
When/if you do send make sure you send your complaint # to Community Board 3 office. 

Actions:

CONTACT:

Local Elected officials:

Senator Kavanagh Phone: 212-298-5565

AM Grace Lee 250 Broadway Suite 2232   212-312-1420

CM Marte (who is already engaged on this matter – thanks Max and team!) 65 East Broadway New York, NY 10002 Phone: 212-587-3159

Community Board 3, Manhattan 
Phone: 212-533-5300
Email: mn03@cb.nyc.gov
File a Complaint Online

 
You can request a new loading zone OR request changes to existing loading zones.
Template Guide: 
– comment type OTHER
– comment VIA FORM
– borough MANHATTAN
– corner or between streets CORNER
– on street DELANCEY ST (then you have to “select street”)
– cross street FORSYTH ST
Conway’s comment Conway has been leading residents/small businesses on the Forsyth Delancey/Rivington block):

“The loading zone currently on Forsyth St. at the corner of Delancey (between Delancey and Rivington) should be moved around the corner to Delancey St at the corner of Forsyth (between Eldridge and Forsyth Sts). The large truck traffic and concentration of delivery workers on the sidewalk on Forsyth St. during deliveries creates an excess of noise, emissions (from trucks left idling), and crowding on the sidewalk that are disruptive to residents. The delivery trucks are wide enough to potentially obstruct the movement of ambulances onto Forsyth St, where there is a medical facility with an ambulance bay. Delancey St. is a commercial thoroughfare with a very wide sidewalk where noise, emissions, and sidewalk crowding will be far less disruptive to the community, and add needed commercial activity in a stretch of sidewalk that is poorly-lit, mostly empty, and invites activities such as drug use and sidewalk sleeping. The business that the loading zone on Forsyth St. currently serves has doors that open onto Delancey, so its operations would not be disrupted by shifting the loading zone location from Forsyth to Delancey.”

Add: Companies like Amazon have opened up the vast majority of last-mile logistics facilities in communities of color that have long suffered disparate environmental harms like increased rates of air pollution, noise, and asthma 

CONTACT THESE ADVOCATES:

Advocates Unveil Actions to Rein In Unplanned Clustering Of Last-Mile Logistics Facilities

Three new bills introduced by the Last-Mile Coalition NYC. New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés and co-sponsored by Council Members Gutiérrez, Nurse, Brooks-Powers, Won, Hanif and Restler, as well as Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

 

Read MoreLast Mile Delivery Site. Bait and Switch to Amazon Across from Senior Center and Our Park. In an Environmental Justice Zone
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Sara Roosevelt Park Gardener and Stewards Meet Up

Thank you to the panelists Justen, Rob, Kate, Bob and Brian for coming to talk with each other, compare notes, tell us their highlights and what they’d like to have different – with our communities.

Thank you also to:

Thanks to the BRC Senior Nutrition Center and Kim Fong (and staff).

Thanks to Ted Enoch Senior Program Director (Catalyst and Partnerships for Parks) for jumping in to help out with refreshments, his contributions as a long-time supporter of Parks like ours and for his respectful listening ear (and note taking)!

Thanks also to Pilar -Maschi (Catalyst)!

Thank you to Terese Flores (NYC Parks Dept) for her welcoming and listening ear and for stepping in with answers and ideas!

Thank you to Carlos and Erisima (below) for set up help, Debra for her last-minute help and (always) guidance and the whole crew who helped us put the BRC back together!

And thank you to the community that came to listen and learn and hopefully be inspired to join the effort to care for this park.

Getting started and waiting for more people to arrive

Carlos and Erisima at work (and play)

 

 

 

 

Read MoreSara Roosevelt Park Gardener and Stewards Meet Up
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Preparing the Site for the Hua Mei Bird Garden Move to Front of BRC

Our Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition’s Head Gardener, Kate Fitzgerald continues supervising our work to prepare the site for the move during construction of the South Delancey to Grand Street Section of the park.

Thanks to Luc our Park Manager for guidance as well and offers of help to move their historic signage!

 

Allium!

Signage in Chinese to Remind Birders of the Coming Move During Construction

 

 

One more of these beautiful red Hibiscus will grace the new site too.

 

Butterflybush attracting the Monarch Butterflies on their long journey

Read MorePreparing the Site for the Hua Mei Bird Garden Move to Front of BRC
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