New Garden on Franklin, Between Sterling Park
Comments
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The community garden has really come along. I believe that the members have built a chicken coop in the back, and they have somehow worked out the water issue. I passed by today and there were flowers about, waiting to be planted. There is collard greens, tomatoes, okra growing, flowers growing. I had the taste of a few tomatoes: Delicious!
Also there is now garden furniture.
There have been a few birthday celebrations, and barbecues. Folks, we have a user-friendly FREE public space in Crown Heights! All due to community involvement and care.
Also, as if on cue, the city came in and removed the old crappy sidewalk replacing it with a wonderful new sidewalk recently. In the process the garbage containers that were chained to the fence were removed, so now the front of the space is clear of those nasty garbage cans. The rats that would often make their short commute from underneath that sidewalk to the garbage cans which was on the roof of their home, essentially, have had the doors shut because the new concrete has sealed up the holes -- no doubt they'll scratch and chew their way in the future, but for the time being, it's dreamy. -
It has been some time since I've described the goings on in the community garden on Franklin Avenue. There are great plans for its use this year, and I hope many of the personalities who have populated these virtual pages with their opinions will stop by and take a look at what it has become. It is a jewel growing in lustre every day, of that I have no doubt. Please, in an idle moment, check it out. It is usually open on Saturdays after 10am... If one has any contributions to make to its betterment, please contact the Crow Hill Community Association....
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Whynot, do not contribute Dude to the betterment of the garden.
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Dude is not allowed in the garden. His pee would be bad for the plants.
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Does the Franklin Ave garden have a name? It might help in communications.
A couple of tips about gleaning that we've learned at Imani Garden, 87 Schenectady at Dean Street. 1. you can get free coffee grounds from local coffee shops that make great compost. I'm collecting now from Breuklen Coffee shop, but Pulp and Bean might be available. Also juice bars throw off a lot of pulp that makes great compost as well.
2. The Sanitation folks at Fresh Kills have free compost available 2 days a week. To find out which days, call 311. You'll obviously need to bring some bags or a pick up truck to put the compost in. 3. A 500 gallon water container will cost you about $1,000 delivered. Less costly stackable and smaller containers are available. Check Craig's list or google to find details.
Good luck and happy gardening! -
I just confirmed that 311 has no clue about composting as if often the case about a lot of things. When I asked for a supervisor, I got hung up on.
After a lot of phone calling I was able to confirm with Miriam at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island that they do have free compost available 7 days a week from 9 to 5 PM. I'd suggest you call first to comfirm they're open. Phone number is 718-362-1010. Their address is 1000 Richmond Terrace. Getting some one to pick up a phone out there on the other hand...........
Good luck. -
thanks.
P.S. Next time, try not to be distracted by the cuteness of my dog! Try hard if necessary.
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Damn, he sure is cute tho!
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ILFA has learned that the vacant lot the garden uses has been sold, and will soon be built on.
'twas fun!
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Word has it that soil testing and construction will begin tomorrow (Tuesday, May 15th).
...heavy equipment is on its way.
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The new owners of the lot have voiced their contempt for the quality of life of the neighborhood by already, a couple days in, being negligent. Passersby on Franklin Avenue can see that half of the fencyehas been torn down and remains this way even when it's dark, so, the lot, which was a haven for criminal activity before it was cleaned up, due to its easy accessibility has returned to such a haven. God forbid one of these purty hipsters gets abducted and pulled into the dark maw it has become. With a covered mouth, no one would see what occurs. With the open fence it once again invites garbage to be thrown in, and worse. And where are the permits? I saw a tractor trailer in their digging and raising dust. Shouldn't there be some sort of certification allowing that sort of activity? The last time I checked there was banter about high levels of cadmium and worse being in that dirt. Having it tossed in the air surely cannot be safe, can it?
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There is a garden over by the Gowanus that was so concerned about toxins in the soil that each "plot" consists of a construction bag.
The kind used to transport sand for cement via crane. In addition to protecting the veggies from toxins, it makes the garden ultra mobile when/if the site is finally developed.
Desperation ---> Innovation
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Is that bag BP free? :P
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None of what is below currently resides at the site that was once garden. During the early days of the garden the soil was tested, and toxins were found within the soil: Cadmium, lead, and others, A Bobcat -- one like what Whynot_31 displays above tilled the soil, and dust and debris was thrown about. Meanwhile just feet away, folks convened at the nearby Chavellas, and the new coffee house. Since the moment of their arrival the fence has been torn aside, there are no lights, and the site of the garden is once again an eyesore.
Happy eating folks...
"Signage[b]—Signs must be displayed at the work site or at 100-foot intervals along a series of excavations or continuous cuts indicating the name of the entity performing the work, the name of the entity for whom the work is being performed and, if applicable, the name(s) of the subcontractor(s).
Signs must also include:
a.Permittee telephone number in case of complaints
b.Contractor's telephone number, if different from the permittee
c.The permit number under which the work is being performed
d.The purpose of the street opening/excavation
e.The start and scheduled completion dates of the work"Taken from: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/streetworks/html/chapter_4/4_1.shtml
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Does just testing the soil, moving dirt around, and creating dust require a work permit?
...a lot of dirt moving/landscaping can be done without a permit.
Also, sometimes they do soil testing prior to a property changing hands. If that's the case, we may be in a limbo period in which work permits haven't been applied for yet, because the new owner doesn't own it yet.
BTW, I think the good people of Franklin Avenue should fear me at the wheel of a Bobcat far more than Cadmium and lead.
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MHA said:
Taken from: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/streetworks/html/chapter_4/4_1.shtmlThat's a link to the rules governing STREET work, meaning work done that is outside of private property and requiring a Department of Transportation permit.
Unless they're tearing up the sidewalk or asphalt outside of the lot, this does not apply to them. A Department of Buildings permit requirement will apply once they start excavation and/or construction.
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Eastbloc --
Agreed. But they have started construction. By virtue of taking a bobcat to flatten a fence, and by destroying structures, construction has begun. -
The Bobcat probably wouldn't have fit thru the gate.
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Now some of the pieces of the puzzle are beginning to assemble. I can understand your coy responses, Whynot_31, and eastbloc, your ostensible stickling for detail makes sense.
You are right. I quoted the wrong law, but it doesn't change the fact that whenever there is any building improvement occurring on property -- even private property -- those who are doing construction are obligated by the law to go to the Department of Buildings and register that such construction is taking place. The proprietors (potential or otherwise) of the lot formerly known as the Crow Hill Community Garden did not do this.
Now there is a corrugated zinc fence covering the property, painted forest green, but before there was not. The assumed new owners had the plot of land unsecured, and people quickly took to once again throwing garbage on the plot, and urinating on the plot. Now, what people will see as they walk by is a dark shadow cast by the fence. No doubt garbage will be thrown over the fence again, the only difference being that you just won't see it. And if some of this garbage are food containers, it will attract rats, and the problem that was solved by community endeavors -- by a group of people who got together and with their own hands cleaned up this plot of land will once again manifest.
Now mind you, many of these people did not like each other. This was no happy jolly group of folk holding hands singing, 'We Are the World'. This was a contentious group of people and there was great acrimony amongst them. But, DESPITE their conflicts, they accomplished incredible things -- all for the GOOD of the community they live in. Now enter monied folks, and with a swipe of a pen all of the endeavors are wiped away.
Here is the question I have folks: can you see how a sense of propriety over one's community is UNDONE by another's (i.e. the gentry's) money? Are you now aware of the bad aftertaste of gentrification? What is the point of me caring about the garbage in a nearby plot of land if the owner of the land doesn't care about it? And if I exercise my energy to clean up that plot of land for the betterment of me and those around me, then that owner -- and would be owner -- capitalizes on my endeavors for THEIR pockets... It's a PARASITIC relationship.
They never handed me a garbage bag to pick up the garbage; they never made attempt to clean up the garbage themselves. But once my labor raises the value of the land, they swoop in. It's a spiritually draining relationship. It's spiritual appropriation, if you really examine it. Seriously, examine it.
Perversely, piss, litter and graffitti makes sad sense to me now: It's the best defense AGAINST gentrification and being excised from your home.
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Piss, litter and graffiti are not strong enough alone to stop the invasion.
One must also have violent crime.
One must also be far from transportation and other nice neighborhoods.
One must also have a populace that does not value and/or is denied education.
Within the US, midwest trailer parks, the hollers of Kentucky, the South Side of Chicago and much of inner city Detroit come to mind as being places free from the spiritual appropriation of the monied class.
Should we move?
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And if I exercise my energy to clean up that plot of land for the betterment of me and those around me, then that owner -- and would be owner -- capitalizes on my endeavors for THEIR pockets... It's a PARASITIC relationship.
It's impossible to say whether the lot would have been sold regardless or whether the improvements made increased its value in the least. The property remained private, and anyone toiling to make it less of an eyesore should not have had any illusions that their improvements would have been permanent.
And to the best of my knowledge, no one was _living_ there. No one was excised from their home. To the contrary, the lot will now be home to some new families, of humans instead than rats.
It was a nice thing while it lasted. I don't see the reason to be so bitter.
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I know for a fact that realtors used as a selling point the fact there was a community garden in the neighborhood. I know this anecdotally: I saw the realtors bring folks to the neighborhood. All of the MySpace acolytes would come by with would-be tenants and show them the garden then say, 'And we have a community garden in the neighborhood.' Meanwhile none of those 'folks did anything to help the garden.
And how do you know that the the lot will be home to some new families? Who told you that? How do you know so much eastbloc, hmm?
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Realtors are rarely wrong.
For example, when you think about it, there is always a community garden in the neighborhood. ...one just needs to expand their definition of the neighborhood's boundaries.
It's all about growth.
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They're building a residential building, so I assume it will have some residents in it.
I'm not sure what "folks" didn't do enough anything to help the garden -- the MySpace 'acolytes' or the new tenants? Do you think they should have felt an obligation to do something? Not everyone is into gardening.
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Organizations like the Trust for Public Land occasionally have the resources to purchase land for public gardens.
...but they rarely have the resources to buy a garden in a neighborhood with land values as high as ours.
Most of the gardens you see around the city were created pre-1995, when vacant land was much cheaper.
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Eastbloc -- how do you know 'they' are building a residential building? Who is the 'they' to whom you refer? And how do you know what 'they' are going to build?
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A while ago, Eastbloc found an advertisement for the site that stated plans for a residential building had been approved, and implored people to buy the site.
As I recall, it was going to be 4 stories tall, with 8 apartments.
...no commercial.
Howdy, Stranger!
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