Share this page
Print this page:
Add this page to:
NYC gardeners take on City Hall
05/08/10
Edited by Tom Bardsley.An alliance of green-fingered New Yorkers is calling on city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, to ensure around 500 community gardens are permanently protected from development.
Members of the New York City Community Garden Coalition descended on City Hall yesterday (4th August) to make themselves heard, with some wielding bunches of carrots and ears of corn alongside their placards, the New York Times reported.
Their protest goes back to a 2002 agreement between the attorney general's office and the administration of then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani to prevent city-owned gardens being sold for development.
Under the settlement, which is due to expire in September, around 198 spaces belonging to New York's Department of Parks and Recreation were preserved, while protection was extended to 100 gardens owned by the Department of Education and 197 other green areas.
The protestors have argued that new rules designed to replace this agreement do not guarantee the continuing protection of these spaces.
Speaking at the protest, city council speaker Christine Quinn, who supports the coalition, said: "We are here today to say that we want our community gardens to become a permanent part of New York City."
