News

The following are posts from New Yorkers for Parks on Parks budget information:

Help Secure a Better Parks Budget

TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW!

·    Call City Hall and your local Council Member and talk to their office about how important a role your local park plays in community, and what a difference more full-time workers would make.

·    Make it clear that the $27 million shouldn’t just be added to the budget on a one-time basis; it should be baselined – that is, made a permanent fixture in the annual budget – so that the new workers and PEP officers truly are full-time, long-term staff additions.

The mayor and council have talked about the importance of community building and of lifting neighborhoods across the city – now’s the time to tell them that adding more funding for parks would do just that.

Commissioner Silver Makes First Council Appearance

“Parks equity is important to Mayor de Blasio, and it is important to me,” he said. “We will work to address these concerns, ensuring that there is equitable distribution of resources throughout our park system.”

“We don’t know the how at this point,” he added after the hearing when asked by reporters about addressing equity issues. “Park equity is the goal, and there are many ways to go in that direction.”

The Parks Department, he said, is undertaking a comprehensive assessment of its capital construction process, which Silver said “currently takes too long.”

Addressing Equity Issues Through a Better Capital Process

1 -“the Parks Department should have a well-funded, flexible capital budget that it can use to prioritize parks and neighborhoods with the greatest needs. … – the system simply isn’t designed to reach the areas that need the most help.

2-Second, there are several internal steps Parks can take to make the capital process better. A few examples …: a faster and more clearly defined design process; a better system for selecting and working with vendors; more collaboration with other City agencies; and through all these changes, ways of fostering a greater sense of accountability within the capital division at Parks.

New Yorkers for Parks City Council Testimony:

New York City Council Committees on Finance
Hearing on the FY15 Final Budget
June 6, 2014
Submitted testimony of New Yorkers for Parks

The ‘unveiling’ of an anti-bullying mural will be held tomorrow Saturday June 7th at the Marte Valle High School  (Rivington and Suffolk).

Chico will represent the creative responses of the winning contestants from the after-school programs of Henry Street Settlement, University Settlement and Grand Street Settlement.

The work was sponsored by the Association of Latino Business Owners and Residents (ALBOR), Healthfirst, and NY Arts Cypher.

Speaking of Marte Valle….Here are the 2005 Mosaic sculptures in the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden created by students from Marte Valle High School!

Google volunteers as part of Citizen for NYC’s ongoing volunteer project came this Wednesday and transformed the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden and helped out in the Elizabeth Hubbard Memorial Garden.

Thanks to all the volunteers. We didn’t get everyone’s name but I’d like to thank Julie, Ezra and Elizabeth (and her stalwart Compost team!) from Google for their tireless work. Thanks also to Lori and Kate from Citizen’s.

Here are a few  photos of their efforts!

From our friends at LUNGS:

Lungsters,

There are certain days when everything comes together. These are the days that define us; days that we will look back on as a turning point. This coming Tuesday, June 10th is such a day for the community garden movement in New York City.

In the morning at 9:30 the Brooklyn Supreme Court will hear arguments about the future of the Coney Island Boardwalk Garden which is being destroyed to make way for a music venue.

The project is dubious, it is being built with city funds on sand, literally, it’s in a flood plain. Sandy dumped two feet of sand on this 18 year-old garden. The gardeners  dug out and replanted after the storm only to see their work bulldozed this past Christmas week by the developers. 

The New York City Garden Coalition used their scant resources to file a law suit to fight the project. The briefs will be heard on Tuesday. It is imperative that a huge number of gardeners show up in court to show the judge there is real support behind the lawsuit. We need to have as many bodies there as possible –size matters here!
 
PACK THE COURT! Join Boardwalk Community Garden in their fight to regain their community space on Tuesday, June 10, 9:30 AM at the Brooklyn State Supreme Court (360 Adams Street, Courtroom 441). it’s in downtown Brooklyn! 

For more information on this case, see http://nyccgc.org/2014/04/update-on-boardwalk-garden-court-case/?and
http://nyccgc.org/2014/01/ode-to-boardwalk-community-garden-from-karen-washington/

On Tuesday evening the NYC Community Garden Coalition(NYCCGC) – is holding their first fundraiser in many years at historic Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South

6:30PM-9:00PM

Sad news that Plantworks on East 4th Street is closing. Many a plant bought over the  years have wound up in the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden!

The reason for the closing? The rent has been more than doubled.

We keep losing our unique community stores and small businesses – the backbone of any neighborhood. A third gym for the area is rumored to be in the works to replace it. Sigh.

Granddaughter Dara (of the family owned business Neil and Verna Mendeloff)  hopes he can stay in the neighborhood continuing to offer us products and services we use.

Below Chris (left ) store manager and local resident activist Michele (right).

The Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition is honored to receive an award from Asian Americans for Equality “for improving the quality of life and living conditions for low-income residents in New York City”.

May 14, 2014

Ms. Kathleen Webster Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition 30 Delancey Street New York, NY 10002

Dear Ms. Webster:

AAFE’s Housing and Community Services (HCS) Office has been hard at work the past year increasing its outreach and services, expanding building organizing, launching new campaigns, and most importantly empowering community residents.To celebrate these accomplishments, AAFE HCS will be holding its Second Annual Community Fundraiser this summer. At the reception, we will honor individuals and organizations that have improved the quality of life and living conditions for low-income residents in New York City. In recognition of your service to the community, we are pleased to announce SDR Coalition’s nomination as an honoree for the event.

The award presentation will take place at our Second Annual Community Fundraiser on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 at the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) at 215 Centre Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The reception will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by a short award ceremony at 7:00 p.m.

In addition to our members and supporters, we expect elected officials, business and civic leaders, corporate and not-for-profit organizations, artists, and representatives from the media to attend the event.

Please contact Douglas Lim at (212) 979-8988, ext. 1107 or douglas_lim@aafe.org to confirm your acceptance of the award. We will be truly honored if you can be with us for this special occasion.

Sincerely,

Christopher Kui Executive Director

Parks has two key budget areas: Maintenance (Maintenance, Gardening and Security Staff) and Capital Construction improvement projects.

The Chair of City Council’s Parks Committee Mark Levine wants $27 million to be included in Parks budget ,over the amount already in place for maintenance, for “neighborhood parks (those not funded by wealthy conservancies).

Levine reported that the mayor reiterated “his commitment to closing the parks equity gap…”

The Mayor has also continued to include $80 million in capital funding for Parks department use for “neighborhood parks” in the budget.

Parks Department has requested 55 capital division jobs to help move all new projects forward.

For more on Parks budget:

Interview with Mark Levine, Chair of Parks Committee for City Council

and

Capital article on Mayor’s Parks budget.

From a post on 9/8/2009 by Brian Dubé

“…In 1995, three men, a Chinese banker and two former waiters, approached Anna Magenta, who, with Federico Sabini, had started the Forsyth Street Garden Conservancy in 1994 to improve the park. With her help, they petitioned the Parks Department, and in 1995, the Hua Mei Bird Garden was hatched. Bird gardens are common in China, and there are even restaurants that cater to patrons with their birds in tow.

Every morning, a group of Chinese men gather with their songbirds, finches, sparrows, and blue jays among them. But the raison d’être of this garden is the Hua Mei with its songs. On weekends, the population of men and birds reaches its zenith, with dozens of cages along the walkway and hanging from lines. Most of the birds’ owners are retired Chinese men.

The Hua Mei is a fighting song thrush – in the company of other males, it fights, and for females, it sings. The distinguishing physical feature is a white line that circles the eye and extends towards the back of the head. The birds are kept in ornate handmade bamboo cages, frequently with a white cloth covering the cage to shield them from the impact of the city. The birds are imported from China and Vietnam – they are quite costly, requiring quarantine before being brought into a domestic environment.

The gathering is a social one for both the owners and the birds. The Hua Mei needs exercise, and the owners take the opportunity to introduce the birds to each other while bird talk dominates the conversation…”

Senator Kristen Gillabrand’s representative Patti Lubin visited the M’Finda Kalunga Garden as part of her tour of LES Community Gardens (also included were Children’s Magical Garden and Liz Christy).

Among other issues the Senator is trying to link NYC urban agriculture in community gardens with upstate farm agriculture.

We talked about possible links to CSA’s and local community gardens. From the Senator’s website:

Connecting Fresh Produce with New Markets – Combating Food Deserts
More than 20 million people live in areas known as “food deserts,” areas that are out of reach of a supermarket, particularly common in communities of color, low income communities, and rural areas. This is a major barrier for families to reach fresh, nutritious food they need to lead healthy lives, and blocks the economic benefits of local supermarkets, such as jobs and associated retail. 

Senator Gillibrand is fighting for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative to help bring more grocery stores, farmers markets, food cooperatives and other options within reach by providing one time start-up grants and affordable loan financing. 

Increasing Access to Farmers Markets
Current participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are unable to use these benefits at farmers markets because farmers markets typically lack the wired Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) terminals  that process SNAP funds. This adds another barrier to fresh, nutritious produce for families in need, and farmers lose out on this business at their markets.

Senator Gillibrand is pushing to change this by providing farmers markets and other non-traditional retailers with wireless, mobile technology that can enable EBT terminals and process SNAP payments. 

New York is home to roughly 520 farmers markets, second only to California. More than 2.5 million New Yorkers received SNAP benefits in 2010. Connecting SNAP recipients with farmers markets can help these individuals lead healthier lives with better access to fresh produce, and help support this business for our state’s farmers. 

Photo from left:

K Webster – President Sara Roosevelt Park Coalition

Bob Humber – Director of the Elizabeth Hubbard Memorial Garden and Head Gardener of M’Finda Kalunga Garden

Kate Temple-West  – Children’s Magical Garden

Patti Lubin – Senator Kristen Gillabrand’s Representative

Aresh Javadi –  Children’s Magical Garden

2^nd photo the same but instead of Aresh we have Aziz!

Aziz Dehkan- Executive Director of the New York City Community Garden Coalition

Photos taken by:

Charles  Krezell: Board member of the New York City Community Garden Coalition in cooperation with LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens.)

It was good to have the Senator interested in what we do!