Mourning for any and all who die while having no safe place to call home.
‘Uncle Kwok,’ 83
Anthony L. Manson, 49
Florecio Moran 39
Nazario A. Vazquez Villegas, 54 (not homeless, handyman working late)
A fifth man, David Hernandez, 55, was left in critical condition.
“Uncle Kwok. It’s Ms. Mui. I hope you remember me,” Ms. Mui said in Cantonese, through sobs. “I gave you the roast pork buns. I met you when I was a little girl.”
“I’ll never forget you,” she said.
Victor, Bob, Jim
Eddie, Denard, Jamil
Gardening has been how Bob looks after the park and watches what’s going on. He and his team planted shrubs, flowers & trees. Many still blooming. In every spring, new ones get planted.
In regards to police interaction with the community, one officer stood out in Bob’s mind, it is Officer Jimmy Boyle. Boyle worked with Bob not only to keep the area safe, but he also talked to people and played with kids. People enjoyed his company and respected him. Officer Boyle retired in May of 2004 but passed away in May of 2019 from a 9/11 related cancer. Bob said officer Boyle was a great man. He led by example. Bob respects the way how Boyle bridged the police and community together.
Bob pointed out there’s something for everyone in the Garden. There’s a section for seniors, youth, a bocce court, and another for chess/board games. He said “I am more of a teacher than anything else. I enjoy teaching young people and seniors.”
Sitting at the Garden most of the times now, Bob tells me that a lot of his goals were achieved as he was showing photos. Not only he spearheaded a local civilian patrol of the park, he also participated in protests & rallies for solidarity. Yet, there still is more work to do. Certainly, he sees vast improvements as compared to the 70s & 80s. He would like to see more. Present-day, the Park coalition has a growing number of volunteers. Thanks to Bob’s efforts, many entities, NGOs and CB2 support the garden as well. Additionally, the children who Bob looked out for, now adults with their own children, often come visit and help out. With his arms open, Bob said “My family wants me relax and retire with them in Jersey but I tell them that I am relaxed here.”
His dedication, kindness, love for humanity, & guidance is simply overwhelming. There’s not enough accolades that one can give Bob for his contribution to the community. We thank you Bob Humber. ~This is what a hero looks like~
National Geographic Photo Winners
“If you find a luna moth on your porch tonight, you’re looking at an insect that can’t eat, drink, or bite. It has no mouth. The luna moth emerges from its cocoon and runs entirely on fat stored during its months as a caterpillar, feeding voraciously on hickory, walnut, sweet gum, and birch before sealing itself away. By the time it has wings, the eating chapter is over. It has somewhere between 7 and 10 days to use what’s left. In those days, the male uses enormous feathery antennae to detect a female’s pheromones from miles away. The female lays up to 200 eggs on the undersides of leaves, each one placed individually. Then both of them are done. Here’s one more thing that’s really interesting: those trailing hindwing tails aren’t decoration. Studies showed that spinning tails in flight scatter a bat’s echolocation signal, buying the moth critical seconds. If one lands near you this summer, take a moment to appreciate it. It’s in its final week.”
-from @giveashitnature on Twitter https://x.com/giveashitnature “I post practical ways to help wildlife & nature”
N95 Mask Distribution Centers below.
Thank you Mayor Mamdani and Assemblymember Grace Lee! (and Jane Barrer).
Please see below for specific Lower Manhattan distribution sites. ??
Lower Manhattan Mask Distribution Centers
• NYPD 5th Precinct – 19 Elizabeth Street
• NYPD 7th Precinct – 19 ½ Pitt Street
• Chatham Square Library – 33 East Broadway
• Seward Park Library – 192 East Broadway
• Mulberry Street Library – 10 Jersey Street
• World Trade Center – 285 Fulton Street
• Office of District Leader Justin Yu – 88 East Broadway
• UA3 – 384 Grand Street, Suite #1A
o KN95 masks available at UA3 on a first come, first serve basis
See map of all NYC locations Here
NYC HEAT EMERGENCY PLAN: Here.
Everything about the backpack is about hope..
We understand that it’s not going to cure homelessness;
we don’t pretend it’s going to cure homelessness.
But it does say to somebody, ‘Hey, you know what? We care.’
-Jeffrey Newman in 2020.
NYTimes Obituary quoted above by Clay Risen HERE
Non flammable candlelight vigil Sunday July 19th (2026) 1:30pm
Delancey between Forsyth and Chrystie, Sara Roosevelt Park
Thank you Partnerships for Parks, Catalyst, Ted Enoch and Sayde Wilson
(Scroll through the website to find the panel bios, responses, break-out table responses and photos)
Warmth, kindness, smarts and information: 33 Essex: the big orange doors
We’ll say hello on another day!! Stay inside if you can, if not wear an N95 mask
N95 Mask Distribution Centers below.
Thank you Assemblymember Grace Lee! (and Jane Barrer).
Please see below for specific Lower Manhattan distribution sites. ??
Lower Manhattan Mask Distribution Centers
• NYPD 5th Precinct – 19 Elizabeth Street
• NYPD 7th Precinct – 19 ½ Pitt Street
• Chatham Square Library – 33 East Broadway
• Seward Park Library – 192 East Broadway
• Mulberry Street Library – 10 Jersey Street
• World Trade Center – 285 Fulton Street
• Office of District Leader Justin Yu – 88 East Broadway
• UA3 – 384 Grand Street, Suite #1A
o KN95 masks available at UA3 on a first come, first serve basis
See map of all NYC locations Here
NYC HEAT EMERGENCY PLAN: Here.
Flyers below in three languages: Chinese, Spanish and English!
M’Finda Garden in Sara Roosevelt Park!
Part 3: Break-out tables and Photos
Intro to Break -Out Tables: Ted Enoch of Partnerships for Parks
Thank you to all of you for tonight, for decades of service your neighborly treatment of one another it’s a great pleasure to see all of you this is a really powerful and beautiful community space and tradition you have.
We have an hour to go in this program
You have note you have a number on your name tag and there are numbers on each table. so in a moment we’re going to ask people to get some food – we have more people who showed than we anticipated – which is awesome!
Please be select with the refreshment you choose (laughter).
And then come to your table and we’re going to talk and respond to this incredible collection of wisdom and stories that I know is the tip of the iceberg for you guys.
Myself (Ted), Jennifer, K, Debra, and Sayde, will make sure we’re at one of each of these five groupings.
We’re going to have a conversation and a note taker at each table. We’re going to share this conversation very briefly when we get back together with each other (in about 45 minutes). Before you leave, please make sure you leave your email here so we can share the reports we have.
Someone just said they wanted to be invited to the table to hear what happens So make sure you sign up with your e-mail.
There’s so much to say; I’m so inspired I could cry tears of joy, I could cry tears of heartache, of appreciation for your dedication, but I don’t want to take up too much time. this is really meant for everyone to respond to one another. – Ted Enoch
Break Out Tables: April 29, 2026
Table #1
Interests:
Public directory of resources in the park: food sources, mental health, etc. Phone #’s so neighbors know what to do. Pathways to work. Rob: many ask him for this.
DOE Fund uptown – something like this here?
Ideas
Tessa – Park tax so many fancy buildings how have them contribute /give back?
Brian from Housing Works – Safe injection sites idea: HW is trying to open a safe injection site @ C and D [Cylar House]. Currently stuck in bureaucracy. Needs public endorsement and funding.
A solidified community voice needed. Next step: Brian to share materials with K
Testimony example who works with /near school. New Health Commissioner?
Health:
Rob: Better signage for bathrooms. Need restrooms cleaned every hour/more cans!
Rob: put fake camera where there is illegal dumping
Eddie” Need more $$ 1% for Parks, Police funded separately. Parks does a detail every Thursday with Sanitation/NYPD. CB 3 is the biggest district with the smallest resources.
Noel: Power of reaching out to Council Member and Assembly Member. There is only one shelter that has single room options.
Sayde: Other parks have done community resource fairs.
Tessa: Around Juneteenth would be a good time.
Amazon worker are using playground @ Rivington Playground for their breaktime.
Why the new designs put benches and tables outside – but need this before the renovation.
Idea is there a way to do temporary benches and tables for Amazon in the interim?
Table #2
Here since the 70’s. We had boys clubs/girls club as kids. Park changed a lot. Maintenance needs to be better.
Here since ’89. More people need to come out to clean up our sections of this park. Bob and others cleaned up the Park – but now needs help again. Bob built a garden named after the African Burial ground that was here. Prepare for impact of Bellevue intake center closing.
Other events like this. Same issues where I live.
UWS. She used to work down here advocate with AAFE (know K from AAFE), a lot of people are involved in the upper west side – let’s do that here.
Do arts work in this park. Brought “Walking Amal” to the park after connecting with K. Every year Remote Theater does site specific stories/plays about this park and its people.
18 years here. This is my bike ride to work area. Worked on getting the two-way bike lane adjacent to park. I’ve lead bird tours here. NYC Parks worker – not speaking as that here. On Community Board 3 Parks Committee with K.
28 years in neighborhood, gardener with Bob – helping him with “circular economy” (redistributing used clothes, etc), we need more free stores, a laundromat, safe places to do drugs, agrees on shower bus.
10 years Safe Horizon, Street work homeless youth, wellness. ‘Professionals’ don’t want these outreach jobs. Need to recruit people wo have experience, but also have different communication skills. Wants to see sites for managing public drug use (and discards). Housing is a key issue. Can’t recover without some privacy.
Grateful for the people in this park who do this work on the ground – they have knowledge we need.
-Bring back Community Policing. Shower bus, Meetings like this, so people can’t so easily be set up against each other. Advocate for Parks budget, Go to meetings with 5th Pct to give your perspective. Go to Community Board meetings -advocacy.
-Take into account the legitimate fears of constituencies here: Anti-Asian violence was real here, vulnerabilities due to being elderly, female, GLBTQ. There is trauma of violence/death here (from and to every walk of life).
-Impacts of generational poverty generational racism is not a mental health issue – it’s a policy choice (One can go “crazy” if homeless for a long time -add “quick fix” street drugs or unmonitored Rx drugs to numb out -mental health deteriorates).
-Housing. Eliminated cheap SRO housing on Bowery, shot down the creation of a Safe Haven nearby, litigated for a decade against the LGBTQ friendly, deeply affordable housing for formerly homeless seniors of Haven Green. How get well/be well without a home?
Everyone should have input that is heard.
Better outreach and referrals.
Publicize resources for health, mental health, housing, youth services for those uninsured (immigrants for instance).
Table #3
Who:
– Community Liaison for harm reduction
– stigma around drug use
– misconceptions about Narcan enabling abuse
– Translator for the evening from University Settlement
– Prevent loss of stable housing
– Earlier role was alternatives to incarceration in Philadelphia
– “There should be a Bob on every block.”
– “resilience”
– ran non-profit
– 30K families
– business owner (restaurant) resident and father of a young woman being raised near the park
– “A quick answer is often harsh and violent”
I’ve been in a leadership position for two years as a co-chair in the committee. I’m invested in the park and I don’t normally feel unsafe in NYC. However, I do feel that way in the park often.
I am part of a professional community (Housing Works) who does service work in the park. I am a community liaison and I believe Harm Reduction principles are essential here, as the stigma around drugs and drug use are so rampant.
I was here to provide interpretation, but the program was so compelling, I stayed anyway even though no interpretation was needed. I think there is a need for eviction protection in this neighborhood. I do like this format because it helps us learn about communities in the Lower East Side.
Business owner: I’ve lived here since 1978, raised my daughter here. My wife and I are here. “We’ve been overrun since Covid and it’s detracting from positive activities in the park. Police are unrespondent. This is a long-term project and we will need patience.
I do walk-ins in the garden and I help take care of the rats.
I’m a volunteer and I want to be part of making it better here.
Ideas – thoughts:
-Getting together more often and building relationships, getting to really know each other
-Getting and keeping the service providers together, networked, and supportive and in alignment is a really big, important opportunity. To build on this very program…
-Wayfinding in the public. Better signs. Bathrooms. Services. Trashcans.
-More learning about overdose centers around town. – Jenna would love to follow-up and offer an info session on this topic, and provide coordinated follow-up.
-Our park feels like a sacrifice zone.
-When do we need to call 911 and the police? When and how we need to understand if overdose protections are needed.
-A drop-in center is controversial, but there is none south of 14th street in Manhattan (verify). Does En Pointe have a successful model?
-Get the Bike Rack out of Rivington pass through because it is interrupting flow
-Might there be a resource fair? How do we become more aware of resources?
-More signage and info-graphics.
-Other report out information:
Signs, cards, backpacks.
-More trashcans, water fountains, sharps containers,
-How to share interests? A volunteer brigade?
-Community policing?
-A shower bus?
– free stores
– public bathrooms: Open, clean, safe.
– mobile showers for the unhoused
– mosquito prevention
– mentioning neighbors’ concerns to Parks and 5th Pct. and other meetings for people who will never attend those meetings.
More signage and info-graphics.
Other report out information:
Signs, cards, backpacks.
More trashcans, water fountains, sharps containers,
Table #4
What is your connection to the Park?
Eight participants at table 4. Three from CBOs who do work in the park, two who live on the park and are very active users, one from M’finda Kalunga garden, two were invited by heavy users of the park and are occasional users.
Why did you come to the event?
What did you think about the panelists’ ideas?
What is one idea you have to make the park safer / What is one thing you would like to see in the park?
Table #5
Question #1 Why did you come this evening? What is your connection to this park?
-First time seeing resources
-Asked to come and share
-Coming to talk about getting services in the park
-This became a community again. Something happened – now I’m hopeful
-The city has pushed folks here, and dropped the resources; “?” the unhoused in the community.
-Reasons for the unhoused – food equity work
-here to learn how we can help-
Know the culture
All are somebody’s mother sister
Everyone is somebody’s somebody
-Wanting to make this neighborhood a nicer place
-it’s a community
-Everybody tries to get along in general, although sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t
-Veteran of this park – long history of brining the community children, police, neighbors – can make change with community
-Listening to bring back
Question #2 What did you think about the panelists’ ideas for making the park safer and more accessible for all?
Allocation of resources – the changes that come with change in who is in the community right now – pass this park by for Eliz St Garden
-List all available resources for folks to share when needed (resource ‘cheat sheet”
-Be more visible – talk to folks – share resources so that passers-by cans share with . They are connected to who might need them.
-Understanding how affective the interventions are – police/providers
-The police and PEP can talk to folks “let us help you” Dialogue
-Homeless and drug dealers – stop and bless my mom who is in a wheelchair – they acknowledge her.
Question #3 What is one thing you would like to see in SRP? One idea to make the park safer and more accessible to everyone?
-How can the community (we) help make the shower bus happen.
-never accept ‘no’
-Community policing and PEP
-People trained to interact with all people without judgment and treating them with dignity.
-more social workers / a better ratio
-Rooms for folks to get services – drop in centers, laundry, restrooms
-cleanliness in general
– connect unhoused with volunteer opportunities – engage them where they feel they are contributing
-shower van /bus
-political will, council member and all politicians should be present and involved.