Siempre Verde Garden Saved as City Transfers Ownership to Parks Department Under GreenThumb
This image has been archived or removed.
Catching up on some news that transpired during the holiday week … Siempre Verde Garden on Stanton Street is finally under the protective care of the Parks Department. The city officially transferred ownership from from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which heretofore oversaw the parcel. The garden activists at 596 Acres listed the pocket park as one of many city gardens that recently made the transfer. Now, as an official member of the GreenThumb program – they’ve maintained “temporary” status since 2012 – the L-shaped garden is off-limits to developers. Well, for the most part.
HPD owns two of three lots on which the garden sits – 137 Attorney and 181 Stanton. The billionaire estate of William Gottlieb controls the third fenced-off, keystone parcel at 139 Attorney (this land is needed for viable development).
The fresh designation caps more than three years of fighting for legitimacy in the face of development. In the interim, Siempre Verde somehow managed to outrun proposed plans by the William Gottlieb Estate to combine these three contiguous parcels for a new five-story residential building. Their plans were initially approved by Community Board 3 in 2012, but there wasn’t another follow-up until two years later; the proposal was summarily shot down in October 2014. At the time, Garden members described their toils to create this intra-tenement urban oasis. How 20 tons of debris was removed and replaced with 50 cubic-yards of fill, and all financed by the money and motivation of grants and volunteers.
This image has been archived or removed.
Then came added political pressure from electeds like Margaret Chin to enable said transfer.
Meanwhile, this news arrives a year after Community Board 3 backed the creation of a Lower East Side neighborhood gardens district. It’s worth noting that, until there’s change, our local gardens are still listed in city maps as vacant lots, not park land.
Sounds like we're going to get some new signage to start off the New Year. We hear that there is an impending move of…
Posted by Siempre Verde Garden on Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Recent Stories
Bowery Boogie Uncapped Presents the Golden Gauntlet Graffiti Battle
Hold on to your hats, kids. It’s all out war on the Bowery! Have you ever wanted to see two graffiti writers battle live? Sure you do! I mean, many of us don’t know what we want until we hear about on the interweb, so you’re welcome. Tomorrow night, PACE SSB and REE MTA will […]
Six-Story Row House Replacement Tops out on Grand Street
At the corner of Essex and Grand Streets, two hundred years of history are officially erased. This six-story building – luxury condos – is the future. The drama here is more than four years in the making. After purchasing 355 Grand Street for $4 million in December 2014, Interboro Properties spent the next two years […]
Rep. Maloney’s ‘RECIPE’ Act Missing Ingredient for Real Revitalization
Last week, U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney (NY12 District) held a press conference to reintroduce the RECIPE Act (Revitalizing Cities through Parks Enhancement) – a clever acronym for a bill that proposes $10 million in funding for community gardens and parks through HUD, not just in New York City, but nationwide. La Plaza Cultural Center de […]
Whole Foods Hogs Sidewalk with Amazon Prime Now Delivery Bike Fleet
The Whole Foods on the Bowery thinks it owns the sidewalk. Just look to the entrance, where a gaggle of delivery bikes, with long flatbeds hitched, are parked awaiting parcels. It even wraps around onto the Bowery. This is the fleet of vehicles whose sole purpose is fulfilling Amazon’s Prime Now delivery service. The sidewalk […]
Someone is Growing Corn Stalks on Delancey Street
Talk about farm to table… A guerrilla farmer is growing corn on Delancey Street, but you wouldn’t necessarily notice on first passing. The decrepit flower box outside the Allen Mall Bathhouse on Delancey Street is chock full of plantings. And the growing glut of crap behind it keeps you away. Gaze there, though, and you’ll […]
