Calling All
Community Garden Supporters!

The More Gardens Coalition, along with gardeners and activists, is gathering signatures for a People’s Referendum to Save Our Community Gardens! We are determined to make all community gardens permanent, and with your help, dedication and commitment we can. Our deadline for filing petitions is July 6, so we have to move quickly.

We hope to place the referendum on the November 6 ballot. It would transfer the control of the gardens from the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to the Department of Parks and Recreation. The decision was arrived at over months of discussion and debate with lawyers and committed garden activists. Here, in brief, is the reasoning behind the it.

In this election year it is vital that we place the fate of the community gardens in the center of the political arena. To date, the City Council sits on their hands, refusing to pass legislation that would protect these vital green spaces (See "There Oughta Be a Law: Intro. No. 742" at www.treebranch.com) Moreover, the majority of candidates do not answer when asked if they would support the preservation and creation of community gardens. Now more than ever it is clear that it is up to us, the people of New York City, to ensure the survival of our community gardens through concerted political pressure and strategic activism. Our signatures, our voices and our votes will make clear to politicians and developers our intention.

In 1998, Mayor Giuliani transferred the administration of the gardens from the Green Thumb program, a Parks-administered office, to HPD. The Mayor’s office oversees HPD and approves sales of city-owned land to private developers for the construction of so-called "affordable" housing. This housing costs far too much for most low-income residents and working people, and is used to pit housing and garden advocates against each other. In reality, both housing and garden advocates believe in their coexistence (see housing/gardens at www.voteforgardens.org).

HPD plans to develop the gardens and has sent bulldozers to destroy dozens of the oldest, most treasured of our green spaces. Plans to develop all 400 gardens are in the works, with the Bronx gardens in the most immediate danger. Currently, only the state attorney general’s temporary restraining order keeps the bulldozers at bay.

Strategy

What we are attempting to do through this referendum is to return the gardens to the control of the Parks Department. This will not absolutely guarantee their protection, but it will remove the gardens from the immediate jurisdiction of their worst enemies: the deadly combination of Mayor Giuliani, HPD and developers. Furthermore, we believe that a vote to turn the gardens over to the Parks Department will serve as a very clear indication of the people’s will. Any incoming mayor would be hard-pressed to ignore such a powerful mandate.

How You Can Help

- Become a petitioner by getting signatures for the referendum (don’t forget to make copies)! You can get your friends to sign it, or people you know at work, school, church, or on your block. There are important rules for collecting signatures, so please read the detailed instructions and follow them to a T.

- Come to a "vote for gardens" meeting and get involved.

- We meet EVERY TUESDAY at 7:00 p.m. at the Sixth Street Community Center in Manhattan, 638 East Sixth St. between avenues B and C. If you can’t come and you have a group of people who want to learn how to petition, we will come to you. Just call (212) 533-8019 to make arrangements.

We will also be canvassing at festivals and parades every weekend in June. We will meet at the mouth of Central Park (59th & Columbus Circle) every Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. Together we will learn how to petition, and then leave in groups to collect signatures at events throughout the city. At the end of day we can meet to drop off petitions and put our feet up at a community garden.

If you’re a do-it-yourselfer you can easily DOWNLOAD THE PETITION, read the RULES, make bunches of copies and strike out on your own. Please call our hotline if you plan on doing this, so that we can arrange a pickup/dropoff of your completed forms. And, of course, you can always call More Gardens! at (212) 533-8019 or check out the Website at www.voteforgardens.org.

Call or write your political representatives and ask them to support this referendum and pass Intro. 742. To find out who your representatives are, call the League of Women Voters at (212) 677-5050 or go to www.lwvnyc.org.

To find out more about community gardens, visit www.nycgardens.org