News

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!

More good news!

“I believe in the anatomy of a place, of a city,” he said. “Parks are a system within a city. They are connected to culture. They are connected to traditions and memories, the economy, the natural systems. As a planner, I take a very different view of parks, as not just a green space but a public space.”…..

….“So equity and fairness to me is absolutely paramount. How we figure that out, I don’t know. There’ll be a lot of meetings, both internally but also externally with our partners, to figure out how we can have a fair parks system.”

The Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition is pleased to have this grant for the Stanton Street Park building!

..a $250,000 grant was earmarked for the renovation of a comfort station in Sara D. Roosevelt Park….

“..The focus on park equity, which fits in with Mayor de Blasio’s theme of inequality, follows years of huge capital expenditures on parks under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, with almost $1 billion going to a small number of parks, like Brooklyn Bridge Park, Governors Island and the High Line…”

Click to view article

Gardeners at work in front of the BRC on the new Elizabeth Hubbard Memorial Garden.
Click a thumbnail to view photos.

The Garden is in full swing. We had two classes from University Settlement’s Head Start programs today.

Jenifer Marcus (retired kindergarten teacher) is running them every week.

We had Tenzer Learning Center High School class in today too. They are ESL students and they came to see the garden, learn about it and practice English by interviewing Bob, Jenifer and K. They were wonderful: from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Dominican Republic, China and Mexico. Smart, good natured and asked better questions than we ever get from newspaper reporters!

Thanks all.

K Webster/Bob Humber

Click a thumbnail to view photos.