Flowers are a sign of spring and our sings are a sign of flowers to come. Thanks so much to the Green City Force cohort (pictured above) who is following up on our workshop last week by labeling lots in all five boroughs! Organizers we met at GreenThumb’s GrowTogether picked up signs for the lots in their lives in Queens and the Bronx. There are so many opportunities to transform neglected land into gardens, parks, farms and other community resources! Scroll down to News from the Organizing Acres to find a lot in your neighborhood, or look at livinglotsnyc.org.

MARCH WRAP-UP: IN THE PRESS & AROUND THE WORLD
In March, 596 Acres was in China, in Brooklyn with youth from EcoPracticum, on Community Garden Revolution Radio and a P2P foundation Project of the Day!

INTERN WITH US
596 Acres is seeking an intern who can work with us 10 hours per week for 10 weeks, May 16 to August 19. Your tasks will include putting up signs on vacant lots, helping us transition our online tools and generally helping us improve the work that we do with a focus on the New York City Community Land Access program. Applications are due by 5:59pm on Friday, April 15.

THIS SATURDAY: BIKE RIDE TO COMMUNITY SPACES IN JEOPARDY
Saturday, April 9 at 1pm, 596 Acres and Public Space Party host the Gardens are Community, Community Spaces in Jeopardy Ride, starting in Little Italy, heading through the Lower East Side into Brooklyn:

• 1pm Elizabeth Street Garden (Elizabeth Street between Prince and Spring, Manhattan): The only green oasis in Little Italy and SoHo and is in danger of disappearing to make way for City-sponsored housing construction. More here.
• 1:45pm Children’s Magical Garden (129 Stanton St, Manhattan): A portion of the garden was illegally fenced by a private developer. Gardeners sued, claiming they owned the private parcel due to “adverse possession” (Squatters’ Rights).
• 3pm Roger that Garden (Rogers Avenue and Park Place, Brooklyn): Roger That Garden is currently under threat of being built on by a company that purchased the deed to the land for $10, subject to $244,654.07 in tax liens. Support the campaign asking the City to buy the property to preserve it as a NYC Parks garden by connecting with organizershere.
• 3:45pm Maple Street Community Garden (237 Maple Street, Brooklyn): Sign this letter to let City Council Member Mathieu Eugene know that you support NYC Parks acquiring the Maple Street Community Garden, a crucial community space, for permanent preservation. There is a lot of story here, involving a beautiful old house, a fire, a dumping ground and a very shady developers. Learn more and connect with the organizers here or email maple3garden@gmail.com to plug in.
• 4:45pm Imani Community Garden (87 Schenectady Ave, Brooklyn): Gardeners are negotiating to keep a private developer from cutting down the historic willow tree in the heart of Imani and dividing the garden; connect to organizers through contact information here.

NEWS FROM THE ORGANIZING ACRES: ABUNDANCE! 
Flushing, Queens – Neighbors are organizing to get access to a vacant public lot to the east of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park! Alishia will be making a presentation about the potential of this space to Queens Community Board 7 next Monday, April 11 at 7pm at the Union Plaza Care Center located at 33-23 Union Street, Flushing, NY 11354. Come support! And get involved in the campaign by becoming an organizer here, or contacting Alishia at alishia0220@yahoo.com or 718-600-0121.

Rockaway, Queens – Several vacant public lots on Beach 84th Street are on their way to becoming a community garden! Thanks to our sleuthing and advocacy, a hold that NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) had on them since 2009 has been lifted. NYC Parks was then able to request jurisdiction for use as a community garden! Are you a neighbor who wants to help transform these long-vacant lots? Get involved here or email organizers@596acres.org to be connected directly with your neighbors (they are a little shy!).

Ozone Park, Queens – The future Pitkin Community Garden on Pitkin and 87th Street is having four upcoming garden planning meetings! Meeting dates: Tuesday, April 19, 7:30 to 9pm;Tuesday, April 26, 7:30 to 9pm; Wednesday, April 27, 7:30 to 9pm; and Wednesday, May 25, 7:30 to 9pm, all at Nativity Church at 101-41 91st Street, Corner of Rockaway Blvd. Please RSVP at Pitkin87cg@gmail.com or 347-709-7119. Feel free to bring healthy snacks for the group! More information here. Proposals developed at these meetings will help neighbors convince the private owner of this lot that allowing the garden is a great idea for him and for the neighborhood!

Brownsville, Brooklyn – The ‪#hpdlist drama continues, and continues to threaten the Green Valley Garden & Community Market. We thought we had this licked in December but the administrative errors are keeping us busy – and gardeners in Brownsville fearing they will lose most of their space due to a transcription error. Watch a video news segment here here.

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn – Addie and Chris are gathering support a to make a vacant lot on Jefferson Ave near Malcolm X Boulevard into a garden. A core group of neighbors will meet in early May. Want to be there? Become an organizer and contact your neighbors via information here or reach out to Addie, addieny@gmail.com, 917-⁠749-⁠2183.

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn – A neighbor contacted us and said, “I’m interested in finding out if this lot onHerkimer Street between Albany and Kingston Avenues can be developed into a community garden.” It can! Join your neighbors in making this happen by becoming an organizer here.

East New York, Brooklyn – Warwick Street Greenery Glow Garden, on Warwick Street between Blake and Dumont, is ready for stewards! This garden was used in the past by Warwick Street neighbors and gardeners. It has not been used in several years and has the potential to become a flourishing community space once again. Neighbors, make it happen by connecting with one another here.

Canarsie, Brooklyn – Neighbors are working towards access to over an acre of vacant land onEast 105th Street and Farragut Road. Make it happen together: sign up to organize and contact your neighbors through information here.

Parkchester, Bronx – Help neighbors get a City-owned lot on Ellis Avenue near the Cross Bronx Expressway that has been informally a garden for years transferred to NYC Parks for permanent preservation and to facilitate community participation. Become an organizer here or contact Nilka Martell to get involved at nilkamartell@yahoo.com or 347-992-2860.

Melrose, Bronx – Neighbors are coming together over their shared desire to make a long-neglected Housing Preservation and Development-controlled lot on Home Street and Southern Blvd into a garden. The first step is to get together and put a garden vision on paper, then ask for the support of Bronx Community Board 3. Join the campaign by becoming an organizer here, or contact Pramash: homestreetcommunitygarden@yahoo.com, 929-375-9727.

LOTS WITH ACCESS 
Harlem, Manhattan – Saint Nicholas Miracle Garden on 125th St and St. Nicks is having a Garden Music Series Kick-Off Party this Saturday, April 9 from 2 to 5pm! Event informationhere.

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn – Patchen Community Square, on the corner of Patchen and Putnam, is back in action for Spring! Kids Gardening is every Monday, 5:30-7pm, first Work Day of 2016 is April 23, 11-5pm, and a meet and greet is April 30 at 2pm. And that’s just the beginning! More information here.

Bushwick, Brooklyn – BK ROT, a youth-run composting service, is now hosting regular food scrap drop off in the Know Waste Lands garden at Myrtle and Cedar on Sundays from 12:30 to 3pm. Come by! Stay in the loop through the garden’s facebook page here.

COLLABORATORS
La Perla, a 24-year old garden on West 105th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam in the Upper West Side, will shrink but stay intact. This garden was put in jeopardy because a private land-owner owns the middle lot of the three lots of this garden, and was attempting to evict the gardeners. The other two lots are owned by Manhattan Land Trust and the NYC Parks. Gardeners have been advocating for a swap that would leave two lots next to each other for the garden, and have succeeded in their campaign! Read more here.

GREEN FOR YOUR GREEN
Check out our list of micro grants and resources that can help you make your project a reality AFTER you have access to your lot.

This magay in Oaxaca, Mexico blooms once in its life, when it reaches 35 years of age. 596 Acres has helped neighbors create 35 new community-managed spaces in NYC. Coincidence? Most probably.

Con amore,
596 Acres