Preserve Our Gardens, Protect Our Future: Tell Mayor Adams to Stand with Community Gardens!

On August 21, Mayor Adam’s released Executive Order 43 that requires city agencies to review their city owned and controlled land for potential housing development sites. The Department of Parks and Recreation was identified as one of the agencies along with others.

Call to Action - Contact Mayor Adams & NYC Parks Commissioner Donoghue Now

We demand that Mayor Eric Adams issue a clear directive exempting community gardens on city-owned land from Executive Order 43, reaffirming their protection, and ensuring that any land review process fully recognizes the irreplaceable value these spaces bring to our city.

Use our google forms to send an email directly to the Mayor and an email to NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue .

Or, send a text message to the Mayor.

Copy / Paste Text Message Script:

‘I'm concerned that Executive Order 43 could threaten community gardens. I urge you to ensure that our city’s community gardens are protected. They are vital for food justice, culture, and the environment. Please issue a clear directive to safeguard them.’

History

  • 1998 - Giuliani put 114 community gardens up for auction claiming that garden sites had to be sacrificed to meet the city’s housing shortage, specifically affordable housing. 

  • But the City’s affordable housing arguments were made in bad faith. Internal documents from the Giuliani administration make clear that its main concern was not to create “low and middle-income housing,” but to maximize revenue.

  • The Mayor’s Office had created a false choice: housing or community gardens, it’s one or the other. But the reality was that many gardeners opposing the auction were also fierce advocates for affordable housing—and had worked tirelessly for the public good in their stewardship of City-owned land.

  • These issues only came to partial resolution in 2002 after years of advocacy and intervention from the New York State Attorney General’s office, supported by Mayor Bloomberg. 

  • The vast majority of community gardens in New York City do not have permanent status. Despite the organizing wins of the late 1990s and early 2000s, most community gardens are still vulnerable to displacement under the current rules.

  • In 2015, Di Blasio made plans to build housing on over 40 city-owned sites which were operating as community gardens citing the need for affordable housing. Eventually 36 of those were preserved as gardens.

GreenThumb

  • Presently, GreenThumb’s Community Garden License Agreement states that the City can terminate its agreement with community gardens at will. 

  • Of the 562 gardens registered with GreenThumb, just 4% ( 22 gardens ) enjoy parkland designation, one of the highest protections available for open space. This status must be granted through designation from the City; simply being owned by the Parks Department is not sufficient.

  • Once deemed parkland, the land is governed by the “public trust doctrine,” a centuries-long judicial precedent that “imposes a duty to hold public land for the benefit of the people and restricts the ability of local governments to sell or convey certain land or change its use, including parks.”

Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS)

Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) was formed in 2011 as a grassroots community gardens-based organization to unite the many volunteer-run community gardens in Loisaida, the Lower East Side and the East Village. LUNGS works to promote, protect and preserve gardening and greening through cooperation, coordination and communication. We believe that permanent community gardens and public greenspaces are necessary for a healthy New York.

NYC Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC)

Founded in 1996, New York City Community Garden Coalition's mission is to promote the preservation, creation, and empowerment of community gardens through education, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

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