The battle cry has been sounded, the flags and embattlements are
raised. Fort Chico Mendez (formerly "the Chico Mendez Mural
Garden") has announced it is seceding from the United States and
is seeking asylum from the Brazilian Embassy. "It may sound
crazy, but this is the Lower East Side," announced Jeff Wright,
the garden's social director, on Nov. 24. The Mendez Garden
(named for Brazilian activist Chico Mendes), on East 11th Street
between Avenues A and B, and three other community gardens
nearby are threatened with imminent demolition for
"middle-income" housing. The gardeners, along with the Lower
East Side Collective and the NYC Coalition for The Preservation
of Gardens, have sued the city to prevent the demolition. The
case is still in court, but there is no restraining order to
stop the "Del Este Village" developer, BFC Partners, from moving
in. Activists have been on guard 24 hours a day to protect the
gardens, and have so far not allowed BFC on the Mendez site.
The planned Del Este Village is a government-subsidized "middle
income" condominium project sponsored by the New York City
Housing Partnership and Lower East Side Coalition Housing
Development, a nonprofit group with strong ties to lame-duck
City Councilmember Antonio Pagan. It would consist of 98
duplexes spread out over six sites, which are now four gardens
and two vacant lots. The apartments would cost between $103,000
and $159,000---after a $40,000 federal subsidy-with mortgage and
maintenance charges estimated at about $1,200 to $1,800 a month.
The units are intended for people making $43,000 to $70,000 a
year, but some can be sold to people making more than that if
they don't take the subsidy. The median income in the
surrounding neighborhood is under $25,000.
The gardens, on city-owned land, were once rat-infested,
garbage-strewn vacant lots. They are among almost 800 in the
city, more than half of which may be slated for development by
the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Five gardens on West 122nd Street in Harlem are also in imminent
danger.
BFC head Donald Capoccia, who stands to pocket $1 million from
the Del Este Village project, was one of scores of developers
whose illegal donations to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's re-election
campaign were returned for being in excess of the legal limit.
According to campaign-finance reports obtained by the Shadow
newspaper, BFC gave at least $10,000 to Giuliani, well over the
$7,700 limit. It has also been a key Pagan supporter,
contributing over $4,000 to his fourth-place run for Manhattan
Borough President. So instead of choosing from the 11,000 truly
vacant lots scattered around the city, HPD has decided to give
away four community gardens and two lots in the densely
populated Lower East Side for an estimated cost of $39,000.
According to the 1995 Governor's Report on Open Space, the
neighborhood has about .7 acres of open space per 1,000 persons,
less than half the city-wide ratio of 1.5 acres. The report
recommended 2.5 acres per 1,000 people as optimal green space.
