In M’Finda Garden Dennis RedMoon Darkeem’s Exhibit Honoring the Black and Indigenous Histories of the Lower East Side On View
Dennis RedMoon Darkeem is an artist and educator of Yamassee Creek-Seminole Native American and African American descent
Co-commissioned by Downtown Art & FABnyc (for more information on the history). The installation honoring the Black and Indigenous histories of the Lower East Side originally shown for Juneteenth 2022 will be on view this summer at M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden
In conjunction with M’Finda Garden’s annual Juneteenth celebration organized and led by Debra Jeffreys-Glass.
The Prep begins!
Garden Visitors already!
An Early Spring Walk in the Park – Looking at a Few of the Gardens in Sara Roosevelt Park
Hua Mei Bird Sanctuary and the Middle Plot
Ribbon Plot
de Britto Plot
Rivington Memorial, Betty Hubbard Memorial, Homeless Memorial, (former) AudubonNY plot, and more…
M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden (GreenThumb Garden)
Urban Park Rangers: The Bronx
The Urban Park Rangers will explore best practices, tips, & take-aways for community groups looking to reach young people as we gear up for an active summer! Free! Register:
Workshop in Crotona Park Nature Center, The Bronx
Spring! Community Building with: The Youth Explorers! Bat Houses & Boy Scouts! Daffodils! City Relief! Exercise! The Pit!
Thank you for all the wonderful collaborative effort here on behalf of EVERYONE!!
Youth Explorers!
Bat Houses!
Daffodils – and other Flowering Plants, People and Community Building!
Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition Testifying at the NYC Parks Preliminary Budget Hearing.
1% for Parks Impact Report from NY4Parks and the PlayFair Coalition.
On Wednesday, March 22 at 10AM in the City Hall Council Chambers
Our Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition Testimony:
Talking Points:
– We demand 1% of the city budget for NYC Parks. Mayor Adams committed to this investment but hasn’t yet followed through.
– Parks are critical infrastructure for public health and safety and are drivers of social equity. They should be funded as such.
– NYC Parks have been operating with an austerity budget for 40+ years; just last year, we gained a record high budget that is only .6% of the city budget.
– In 2020, within months of budget cuts, NYC Parks were in their worst condition in two decades.
– NYC Parks is chronically underfunded and understaffed: there are not nearly enough maintenance workers and PEP officers to keep our parks clean and safe.
– We are at a tipping point again with citywide cuts this fiscal year, and the mayor’s preliminary budget proposes further cuts to NYC Parks that’s close to $50M: the agency will lose critical maintenance and operation staff.
– New Yorkers deserve a parks system that is safe, clean, and equitable.
From the NYTimes:
Many New Yorkers who had not spent much time in the city’s 1,700 parks discovered them when so much else was off limits during the pandemic. We’ll look at a report from a nonprofit parks advocacy group that says the parks need a bigger share of the city budget.
“1 % of the Budget for Parks? A Bargain, Says a Nonprofit”
New York spends less on its parks than other major cities. Now is not the time to cut funding for them, says New Yorkers for Parks.
How much for parks?
[Read on in link above]
Testify in Support of 4 Bills at Upcoming City Council Parks Hearing
Support our parks and our NYC Parks Department!!
From NY4Parks :
“We encourage you to testify in support of four bills at an upcoming parks hearing on
Wednesday, March 1, at 1:00PM.
The hearing will take place in the Committee Room, City Hall, New York, NY and via Zoom.
LINK: Register to testify in-person or remotely
Int. No. 7 would make NYC Parks recreation centers free and more accessible to young adults ages 18-24.
Int. No. 128 would require safe and sanitary diaper changing tables in all park bathrooms
Int. No. 213 would require NYC Parks to assess, support, and increase urban farming and infrastructure.
Int. No. 576 would codify the reporting process for cleanliness of public bathrooms in NYC, including in park comfort stations.
Talking Points:
– Mayor Adams and the City Council must allocate 1% of the city budget for NYC Parks to address longstanding maintenance and staffing needs and to achieve an equitable twenty-first century parks system.
– Recreation center programming and amenities provide critical opportunities for youth development through exercise, education, and socialization. To be truly equitable, these facilities must be free and accessible to all young people regardless of financial status.
– Accessible and convenient public bathrooms are a matter of public health. Comfort stations in parks must include essential amenities for parents and guardians of babies and small children.
– Unsanitary and unsafe comfort stations reflect insufficient funding for NYC Parks maintenance and operations. Codifying the public bathroom reporting process in addition to allocating 1% of the city budget for NYC Parks is necessary to improve and maintain consistent sanitary conditions and increase the agency’s capacity to service comfort stations.
– Urban agriculture in community gardens and urban farms supports education, community building, nutrition, and climate mitigation. We must invest in and expand urban agriculture to make these programs accessible to all New Yorkers.
Standing in solidarity with our Jewish Sisters and Brothers
In the words of our NYS Attorney General Tish James:
“Let me be clear: New York will not stand for a single day, hour, or minute of hate against our communities.”
