It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Brooklyn, NY – January 17, 2014 – Roger That Garden Project, an iconic half-acre community garden in Crown Heights home to over 100 participants—including dozens of neighborhood children and students from local public schools—and thousands of plants, is in imminent danger of destruction as a result of a recent property sale. TYC Real Estate has purchased NYC Tax Lot 1, Block 1233, which includes the Garden and total elimination of the Garden is scheduled to be complete by next week. To save the years of dedicated work and flourishing plant community, Garden organizers must buy back the land from the purchaser or else succeed in securing additional time and a new location to safely move plants and equipment. Roger That Garden Project is urgently seeking to raise funds to support a purchase and new location to move plants temporarily or permanently. A volunteer day will be held on Sunday, January 19, from 11:00 to 4:00 to rally support for extending the life of the Garden and answer questions from press, elected officials, and community members.Roger That Garden Project, on the corner of Rogers Avenue and Park Place, opened in 2011 with three goals in mind: to cultivate food, nature, and community. The Garden is a critical neighborhood resource that produces healthy food, gives children a place to go after school, clears trash, keeps rodents away, stewards newly planted trees, and helps once-anonymous individuals become engaged community members making positive change. The Garden grew out of an effort led by the Crown Heights Youth Collective to tear down the dilapidated building formerly on the site and create a community garden to encourage neighbors to garden together in an environment affected by poverty, obesity, and food deserts. A vibrant mural to commemorate the removal of the building by the City and the replacement of urban decay with new growth and community effort was completed in 2007, and remains a visible symbol of community togetherness and partnership.Today, Roger That Garden Project is a volunteer-run, communally cared-for native plant and edible garden that has never turned away anyone who wants to interact with nature, be outdoors, and do something positive for their block. The Garden has worked with Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the NYC Department of Sanitation, the NYC Parks Department, Citizen’s Committee for NYC, KickStarter.com, the GreenBelt Native Plant Center, Build It Green NYC, the Crown Heights CSA, New York Cares, GrowNYC, former gardeners from the High Line, and the Crown Heights Youth Collective to procure resources and build a sustainable, beautiful neighborhood asset.Roger That Garden project is currently in discussions with the developer about the viability of extending the Garden’s life by re-purchasing the land or securing several more months to safely move the plants to a new location during the warm season. To find out more, volunteer time, or suggest a new location, please contact Emily Dinan. To donate to the purchase fund, please visit fundly.com/save-roger-that-community-garden.
RSS 
Subscribe by Email
Comments
http://www.change.org/petitions/leticia-james-save-the-roger-that-garden-project-encourage-tyc-realty-to-make-affordable-property-transfer-to-local-land-trust?share_id=ZWCRxSHqpK&utm_campaign=twitter_link_action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition
However, it is not clear whether the land trust has the ability to pay a competitive price for the property.
...and the new owners do not seem to want to engage in a process in which they restrict the number of bidders they are allowed to market to ONE.
In the event this garden is unable to be saved, the money will be used to save another garden.
Upside down garden party!
It does not sound as if one of the various land trusts was able to swoop in and save the day.
Like the food coop, they are too collective for my preferences.
But, a lot of people seem to get a lot out of them, and they sure beat what USED TO BE the alternative: A trash strewn vacant lot.
Once the fence is complete, the site's new owners may be able to charge the gardners with trespassing if they enter.
The end has either arrived, or is very near.
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140627/crown-heights/crown-heights-community-garden-boarded-up-as-members-protest
http://rogerthatgarden.org/Roger-That-Garden-press-release-20140711.pdf
...If I were a gardener, I think it would be worse to not be able to access my garden because it "someday" was going to be built on, than if they just built on it.
We actually have been in talks for legal advice to secure the land since we moved in, but it's not something we had experience with and by the time the garden grew to a point where we could properly organize to move forward with it, this happened. Seriously, we started getting things in place back in the fall of 2013, and the actual sale happened in November.
We still have full access to the garden as well, so that's not the concern, nor are we worried that it'll be built on someday. Right now we are exploring tracks to both preserve the garden if possible, and if not, to find the proper way to move it. We have all invested a lot of money and time into the current setup, so we are trying everything we can to delay any destruction of the property until then.
When a building is built, at least someone gets to live there.
So, you might be able to stay on it for the longest possible time by creating an agreement which states you will leave Nov 1, or forfeit a deposit you have given them.
You'd want to specify that you are aware said document could not be construed as a lease, and involve a lawyer who has drawn up a similar agreement.
Its a bit amusing to watch those that have benifited from all of the change in the neighborhood, starting to protest all of the change in the neighborhood once it affects them personally.
I also found it somewhat naive that one of the landtrusts would use their limited money at this location.
The landtrusts wisely spend their money where opportunities to "build community" are lacking the most, and where they can secure several plots for the price of this one.
Answer: East Brooklyn.
There, the residents are disproportionately poor and disabled and don't have the ability to engage in safe, productive recreation. There, local gardens provide a much more needed resource.
Here, they serve a far more "able" clientele.
As a result, I attended the April 12th fundraiser (see grainy photos above) not because I thought it would save the Roger That Garden, but because it would be a nice little transfer of wealth from "here" to "there".
This is strictly about money: This plot of land will be used by its present owners in the manner that creates the most of it.
If a land trust was able to buy it, they could (and would) pursue goals other than money.
...but their ROI calculations don't seem to justify it, and the present owners seem to know that any offer a land trust makes would be far below the land's value.
http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/151604/737-Park-Pl-Brooklyn-NY-11216/
BTW -- does anyone know the history of the vacant lot next to the Carmel Christian School? It looks like there was a fire, but does school still happen in the adjacent building?
http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2014/08/developer-demands-1-million-for-crown-heights-community-garden/
Um, I can't think of a corner lot anywhere in CH that is worth only $80k.
http://ditmasparkcorner.com/blog/news/neighbors-fight-for-an-imperiled-garden-they-transformed-from-an-abandoned-lot-into-an-oasis-of-green
Gardeners put lots of work into a vacant plot, and then feel they should be able to stay because they equate work and possession with ownership.
...one has to include all of the times he researched a property, tracked down its owners, and wasn't able to buy it in order to come up with mean hourly earnings.
...DOB already doesn't issue new permits when they have unpaid taxes on them.
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140925/crown-heights/community-garden-fighting-orders-leave-plan-paint-new-mural
Detroit is in a different situation; that city begs for people to build.
I am not sure I would use the word "impressed".
Here is a photo of the mural from the air, as it appears on their Facebook feed:
The gardeners don't have much $, and would like the present owners to accept payment that includes goodwill.
http://www.valuadder.com/glossary/business-goodwill.html
At this point, it is clear that the gardeners' valuation of the gardeners' goodwill is much higher than the owners' valuation of same.
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/23/four_nyc_community_gardens_fighting_for_their_lives.php#more
In light of the nearby corner lot on Rogers at Prospect Place selling for $1.2M, the developers request for $1M seems quite reasonable.
http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2015/02/five-story-building-planned-for-rogers-avenue-in-crown-heights/
Needless to say, the developers are likely unwilling to take $1M anymore. ...its value has continued to increase.
on the property at 115 Rogers Avenue, also known as 749 Park Place.
The new building would hold six apartments divided across 3,990
square feet of residential space, as well as 1,140 square feet of
ground floor commercial retail. That works out to an average apartment
of only 665 square feet—almost certainly rentals, and about as small as
the zoning code allows for new buildings.
There will be one apartment on the first floor, and two each on the
http://newyorkyimby.com/2015/04/four-story-building-headed-to-crown-heights-community-garden-at-115-rogers-avenue.htmlsecond, third and fourth floors (adding up to seven apartments, not
six)."
I must get a photo of that mural before it gets destroyed. I really wish we could save that since it's such a fixture of the block.
Any idea on the time frame for construction?
Then, they need to dig a hole, create a foundation, build the structure, and install open concept IKEA kitchens.
So, let's estimate occupancy in the Fall of 2016.
The first floor will have a commercial space, as well as a backyard. So, we might end up with a Mexican restaurant with margarita garden going in there.
https://www.facebook.com/events/290894687701446/
This event is on May 12 and May 13th.
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=1&passjobnumber=321120666&passdocnumber=01
"Roger That can be saved if the City invokes eminent domain and buys the property to preserve it as a Parks Department garden. Eminent domain has been used to create New York’s parks and open spaces dating at least back to 1807. Prospect Park, Central Park, the Ocean Parkway Greenway and Astor place are just a few of the over 350 condemnations for the creation or preservation of parks and open spaces that have been recorded in New York’s county courts. "
http://596acres.org/en/news/2015/04/13/for-immediate-release-new-yorks-ride-bikes-to-connect-gardens-under-threat/
b. There is a procedure for evicting tenants (even squatters..) on non-residential properties. If the owners of the property can show that they followed said procedure, they will "win" the assistance of gov in getting the gardeners off the property.
...and be able to build whatever is allowed by the DOB.
BTW, if your mother is still legally able to sign contracts I would not make her vulnerabilities well known.
Hundreds of years later, some people have concluded Peter Minuit was a scoundrel. Minuit is credited with purchasing the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans in exchange for traded goods valued at 60 guilders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit
The person who purchased Brooklyn, which included this garden, was seemingly less successful.
"When cops entered one location, at 865 Sterling Place, an officer fell through a makeshift trapdoor set up by the dealers and broke her arm."
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/crown-heights-bit-back-article-1.220274
I wonder if the person who owned the garden lot would have gotten a better price if it came with similar stories.
If the owner of the lot is successful at this hearing, the gardeners will be evicted and construction can begin.
Emily-Bell
Dinan <ebdinan@gmail.com>
Roger
That Floods the Court 07/07/15 @ 10:00 am - PLEASE READ, SHARE, AND COME
OUT!
July 2,
2015 12:44:50 PM EDT
"roger-that@googlegroups.com"
<roger-that@googlegroups.com>
Partners, Friends and Neighbors,
Garden to appear in eviction court and we need your help! We will be in Landlord-Tenant Court this
Tuesday, 07/07 at 10:00 am and need to bring everyone. Roger
That Garden wants to ensure that the housing court judge our group ends up in
front of understands that this issue is vital to our community. This is not only
Crown Heights. This issue effects every rapidly gentrifying neighborhood
fighting questionable real estate ventures. This effects the security and
institutional value of community gardens City-wide. This effects the voice of
community driven change. COME. SHARE. SPEAK UP FOR OPEN SPACE, VOLUNTEERISM,
AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES!
event and see you soon: https://www.facebook.com/events/511318829026166/
WHERE: 141 Livingston Street
(at Smith), Room 603. Brooklyn, NY 11201
Let us know if you have
questions! We will provide Roger That Garden t-shirts for folks to wear. More
background info on our long fight can be found here.
FLOOD THE COURT AND SEE YOU
SOON!
Dinan
To gain legal possession of the property, all the developers need to do is prove that:
a. They obtained the deed legally,
b. There is no existing legal agreement between the gardeners and the property owners for use of the land,
c. Prior attempts to have the gardeners leave have failed, and thus the court's assistance is required.
...this isn't about proving whether a garden is good for a neighborhood.
Have fun on Tuesday. Let us know if you can get the judge to overturn property rights.
Property rights and consent seem to be two things consistently disliked by people who want something that isn't theirs.
Let me know if they have any extra t-shirts on Tuesday.
...If the gardeners aren't successful in proving a violation of law, I'm sure one of the real estate agents would enjoy wearing one under their suit when they show the finished units to tenants.
Don't throw the extra tshirts out!
We also pay taxes, some of which is used by the Parks Dept to create new open space.
Have the (prior) owners of the Maple Street Garden lot filed a suit/complaint that their property deed has been forged?
They would seem to be the party most affected by the theft, not the gardeners. Then, a publicly funded DA could investigate the merits of their complaint, as opposed to a crowd funded private investigator.
More legitimate "Cash for Land" businesses do the same thing.
Has the Maple St property ever been on said list?
http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/45629/it-is-a-really-good-time-to-be-the-mayor-of-nyc/p1
We can only hope that the residents who move the to-be-constructed units don't view them "expensive" or "dreary". Both terms are subjective, after all.