Friends, [Sorry, this is a rather long message, but its a hell of a story]
On his way to the Clinton Community Garden, last September, Jon Rowley and his lovely wife came upon the Oasis 1 garden in Hell's Kitchen. When he got to the CCG, I explained that the pending bulldozing of the garden was not going to be a bad thing -- being the gentleman that he is, he probably thought I had misspoken (a not unusual thing). No, we ended up with a good thing. Actually, this is about the Hell's Kitchen garden merger that I've talked about in the past, where we're going to be able to build 84 low income units for seniors on the site of one garden, expand another garden by expanding the auxiliary space of a building being renovated for low income housing, and, in a few years, tear down a one story garage to create a permanent community shade garden a block away. The Oasis Gardeners hung tough but were also savvy enough to sit down to negotiate with their neighbors, especially when many of them wanted the garden gone. The stubbornness of Nancy Kyriacou, gardener and housing advocate, is legendary in Hell's Kitchen. If there's a picture on "hanging tough" in the dictionary, it's of Nancy with the Oasis Gardeners. They knew when to hold and they knew when to fold. We wouldn't have more housing and community gardens in Hell's Kitchen without their determination and good will. The political land use deal that the Hell's Kitchen community has worked out is unique: we get affordable housing for low income seniors and two renovated, permanent community gardens -- no net loss of gardening space. I've toured with a few of you in the area - Anna Wasecha, Corrie Zoll, Tom Kerr, Pratt Remmell and Diane Dodge immediately come to mind -- trying to explain how we managed to do this in the shadow of midtown skyscrapers. The best explanation I can give is that Hell's Kitchen gardeners looked outside of our garden gates, worked to make coalitions with neighborhood groups, served on the community board, worked to elect our city councilperson, State Senator and Assemblyman and drank an awful lot of bad coffee at neighborhood planning and Community Board 4 meetings, hammering out a compromise. Manhattan Community Board 4 has been instrumental in bringing the groups together in the Clinton Renewal Area. A special mention has to be made acknowledging former CB4 Board (and Clinton Land Use and Zoning, "CLUZ") Chair Katherine Gray for her work on the board and as an Oasis gardener to make this become a reality. The continued work of CB 4 Chair Simone Sindin on both the full board and CLUZ furthered the process. Current CLUZ Chair Anna Levin has continued the process -- it's a small world, Anna is an old friend of ACGA founder Tessa Huxley. I am proud to say the Clinton Community Garden and the Manhattan Botanical Garden were part of this solution which predates the NY State Attorney General's Community Garden settlement. We threw our two gardener -- community board members, the example of our work at the CCG, Pier 84 and DeWitt Clinton Park, organizing. technical assistance, postage and advocacy into the pot. Edie Stone and Edie Kane of NYC Greenthumb have done remarkable work on this project -- some of it advisory and technical, much of it talking to gardeners who weren't talking to each other and nudging them forward. It is amazing how much good work gets done by this underfunded and embattled city agency. I cannot say enough about Sister Elizabeth Hasselt of the Encore Center, which has been serving low income seniors in the Times Square area and Hell's Kitchen for over 25 years. She has been a tough, fair and honest negotiating partner. She started by advocating for her seniors and ended up an advocate for affordable housing and community gardens. By working with the community and negotiating in good faith with community gardeners, our neighborhood will now have both housing for low income seniors and community gardens, a win-win. I have attached an invitation for a rather unique event: a farewell party this coming Saturday, for a community garden which is going to be bulldozed, at which the gardeners, the not-for-profit developer, community board members, representatives from NYC gardening groups and community gardens will be present and toasting each other through a few tears and many smiles. Here is the text from the invitation that was printed and mailed to interested members of the community by Sr. Elizabeth Hasselt of the Encore Center and the Oasis I Gardeners: "JOIN US TO SAY FAREWELL TO OASIS GARDEN AS WE MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW ENCORE WEST RESIDENCE FOR LOW INCOME SENIORS Date: Saturday, November 9th, 2002 Time: 1PM - 2PM Place: Oasis 1 Garden, 10th Avenue (between 51st and 52nd Streets) Refreshments will be served After 20 years, the Oasis 1 community garden will merge with our companion Oasis 2 on 52nd Street. The expanded Oasis 2 has been made a permanent garden and will remain in the NYC Green Thumb Program. Both gardens have won numerous Molly Parnis Dress Up Your Neighborhood awards and are designate Wildlife habitats. The Clinton Seed Fund and Encore Community Services have contributed funds for the relocation of Oasis 1 and the redevelopment of the new Oasis Community Garden on 52nd Street. Their help guarantees that the Clinton community will continue to have a tranquil oasis in the midst of a rapidly changing, built-up area. Encore Community Services will begin building 84 units of housing for low-income seniors on the former Oasis site. The 8 - story Encore West Residence is being financed by a $8.4 million grant from HUD. Encore West Residence is a nonprofit agency dedicated to serving the elderly. Founded 25 years ago, Encore provides health, nutrition and social services, assistance for the homebound and housing. WORKING TOGETHER FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY GARDENS For more information contact: Encore - Sr. Elizabeth Hasselt (212) 582-2910 (ext. 227) Oasis - Nancy Kyriacou (212) 541-5596 (ext 17) " ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. 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