Supporting and Saving New York City’s Community Gardens
About 70% of New Yorkers live in apartments.
By Steve Cohen
State Of The Planet
December 18, 2023
Excerpt:
I remain baffled by the hostility to composting and community gardens—two broadly supported community-based environmental programs. The volunteerism that powers these gardens and community food waste pick-ups should be encouraged and extended to other elements of the city’s service delivery programs. In a political system powered by wealthy donors, it is not surprising that these grassroots efforts are ignored or even opposed. While voluntary food waste pick-ups will eventually be replaced by mandatory pick-ups by the Sanitation Department, the nonprofits that now collect food waste can be re-purposed by the city to perform other vital environmental services now neglected by the city. Park clean-up and clearing blocked water drains are two obvious examples, and I’m confident there are many others.
The pressure on community gardens will continue as land scarcity grows in New York City and the monetary value of these spaces increases. As in many volunteer-based efforts, they are dependent on energetic leadership and private fundraising. The Parks Department assists these gardens, but in a department as woefully underfunded as NYC Parks, the sixteen people staffing this city-wide effort have their hands full. Most of the community engagement staff in Green Thumb are responsible for over five community board districts, and all the NYCHA gardens are staffed by a single coordinator. Perhaps the Mayor could spare one of his special assistants for this important work.
