NEXT SATURDAY: BIKE RIDE TO COMMUNITY SPACES IN JEOPARDY 
Saturday, April 30 at 12pm, 596 Acres and Public Space Party host the Gardens are Community, Community Spaces in Jeopardy Ride (it was postponed to this date due to rain). We will start in Little Italy and head through the Lower East Side into Brooklyn to visit five gardens at risk, following this route. Event details here. Facebook event page here.

WORK WITH US: PART-TIME FACILITATOR AND RESEARCHER FOR NYCOMMONS
Common Cause/NY is hiring a part-time Facilitator and Researcher for NYCommons, a collaborative project of Common Cause New York, the Community Development Project (CPD) at the Urban Justice Center, and 596 Acres.  Graphic design and mapping skills are highly desired and candidates must be able to work between 2 and 3 days a week from April through July 2016. Pay will be $15/hr and the position starts ASAP, so apply ASAP. More informationhere.

NEWS FROM THE ORGANIZING ACRES
Prospect-Lefferts, Brooklyn – On April 13, 596 Acres’ Paula Z. Segal and gardeners from Maple Street Community Garden appeared again in Brooklyn Supreme Court (bottom left photograph). The order that permits the garden to grow (see onions growing, bottom right), and forbids the developers who claim they own the land from making any moves, endures –Maple Street Community gardeners have started sowing new seeds (pictured at top; more photos of the workday here). The garden is safe for now, but the struggle continues. Listen to the story: There Goes the Neighborhood, Episode 6: Trickery, Fraud, and Deception in Brooklyn, a podcast by The Nation and WNYC Studios, for an amazing radio moment: our first contact with the heirs of the family that once lived here, recorded live!

East New York, Brooklyn – The ‪#hpdlist drama continues. Green Valley Community Farm was one of the community green spaces announced as being permanently preserved in December 30, 2015 through a transfer to NYC Parks. In a stunning twist, the coordinators of Green Valley Community Farm learned last week that only one fifth of their site was actually on municipal record as a community green space; therefore, only a small portion of the farm was preserved through a transfer to Parks. Last week, HPD told GreenThumb that they would like get a developer to build on the rest of the lots. Follow the story and join the community in advocating for its preservation by signing up as an Organizer here: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/58882/. If you can join this evening, gardeners meet with the New York City Community Garden Coalition at 6:30pm at the garden on New Lots and Sackman.

East Flatbush, Brooklyn – Tropicalfete, a Brooklyn-based Caribbean culture organization, is starting a campaign to transform a vacant public lot on Rockaway Boulevard and Avenue D into a place for positive cultural community programming! They say, “As we explore all possibilities, we welcome the public to be part of this venture with us.” Join them! Sign up as an Organizer here: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/3036440210 or contact Alton at 646-504-3383 or info@tropicalfete.com.

Melrose, Bronx – 596 Acres recruited a team of architects to design Hill Street Community Garden with local community members. Join neighbors and the design team for a discussion of what you would like to see in the hillside space on 159th street between Eagle and St. Ann’s onMonday, April 25 at 5pm at New Life School, 831 Eagle Ave, Bronx, NY 10456. Questions:organizers@596acres.org. Join us as an Organizer: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/6000020001 or email Victor at maldonvic@aol.com to get involved!

Edgemere, Queens – Ten neighbors have been gathered to begin growing plans for a vacant public lot on Edgemere Avenue between Beach 34th and 35th Streets. Plug in by signing up as an Organizer here: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/4158610047/

Flushing, Queens – Neighbors are creating a garden on a vacant public lot to the east of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park! Alishia says, “We need more volunteers to sign up as members on our application to Greenthumb. Anyone interested, please contact me at 718-600-0121 (or alishia0220@yahoo.com to be added to our mailing list).” Or become an Organizer here:http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/4063910024/.

Rockaway, Queens – Slowly but surely, a derelict City-owned property on Beach 84th Street that has been empty since 1973 is becoming something better. Join your neighbors by signing up as an Organizer or contacting them via information here: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/58968/

LOTS WITH ACCESS
Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn: This weekend, get in on the gardening at Myrtle Village Green, located on Myrtle between Franklin and Kent. Stay connected on the MVG facebook, here.

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn – Patchen Community Square, on the corner of Patchen and Putnam, is back in action for Spring! Mark your calendar for these upcoming events: Kids Gardening, everyMonday from 5:30 to 6:30pm – for school-aged kids who would like to help at the garden every Monday evening until it gets cold. First Work Day, April 23, 11am to 5pm – help clean up the garden for the year and in shape for the meet and greet the next weekend! Meet and Greet,April 30th, 2pm – Meet and Greet neighbors and members (co-hosted with Patchen Avenue Block Association). Save these dates: End of School BBQ, June 25th at 1pm – BBQ and fun with a slip n slide (weather permitting). Patchen Ave Block Party, August 6 – Fun! Food! Awesomeness! The block association goes all out, so stop by. More info on the Patchen Community Square facebook page, here, and on their website, here.

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn – 462 Halsey Community Garden is hosting the Free Black Women’s Library, Foodie Edition next Sunday, May 1 from 12pm to 4:45pm. Bring a book written by a Black woman to donate or trade. More information here. (P.S. The apiary’s queen bee made it through the winter! Photo 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 on the Know Waste Lands facebook page here.

Red Hook, Brooklyn – The South Brooklyn Children’s Garden has started its free children’s garden classes! Classes are on Wednesdays from 3:30-pm to 4:15pm. From now until June 8, classes are for 3 to 5 year olds. From June 29 to July 27, classes are for 6 to 8 year olds. More info on the South Brooklyn Children’s Garden facebook page, here.

Ozone Park, Queens – Pitkin Community Garden on Pitkin and 87th Street is having three upcoming garden planning meetings! Participation in the Garden Planning Meetings is essential for the Pitkin Community Garden to actually succeed; your opinions and feedback truly matter! Meetings are Tuesday, April 26, 7:30 to 9pm; Wednesday April 27, 7:30 to 9pm; andWednesday, May 25, 7:30 to 9pm. All meetings will take place in Nativity Church at 101-41 91st Street, Corner of Rockaway Blvd. Please RSVP at: Pitkin87cg@gmail.com or 347-709-7119. We look forward to sharing and listening! Feel free to bring healthy snacks for the group! More information on Living Lots NYC, here.

Lower East Side, Manhattan – Save the date! Siempre Verde Garden is hosting a Lower East Side (LES) History Month Event – Come Protest the Great Meat Boycott – on Wednesday, May 25 from 5pm to 7pm. The Great Meat Boycott took place in May 1902 in the Lower East Side and was the first consumer boycott in America; 20,000 women took to the streets to protest the sudden increase in meat prices of meat monopolies, succeeding in getting the monopolies to lower their prices. “We’ll be remembering these ladies fondly and loudly.” More info here.

IN THE PRESS & IN THE WORLD
596 Acres’ tools tools are being used by advocates in LA! Read about it in here. 596 Acres’ Paula Segal was interviewed for a City Limits story about creating affordable housing on the city’s vacant land: “The empty spaces on the city’s map—some of which are the vestiges of old urban renewal schemes—reflect failed past efforts by government to dictate the future of individual communities, Segal says, and the city must learn from its history before it builds over it.” Read the full story here.

JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Bangladeshi American Community Development & Youth Services (BACDYS) is offering a paid Summer Internship in Community Organizing that focuses on the development of a comprehensive community assessment of the Bangladeshi and new immigrant communities served by BACDYS within the City Line, Brooklyn, and Ozone Park, Queens neighborhoods. Part of the job includes assisting staff in the delivery of core programs and services, including the BACDYS community garden. Send resume and cover letter detailing your interests in working with BACDYS and relevant community organizing experience to info@bacdys.org with a subject “Community Organizing Intern” by May 15. More information here.

Citizens Committee for New York City is hiring a full-time program coordinator: “In short, we’re looking for someone whip-smart, friendly, with strong work ethics, and a passion for supporting the self-determined projects of small community groups across NYC.” More information here.

COLLABORATORS 
Next Friday, April 29 at 6pm, join Picture the Homeless at 104 E 126th Street # 1B in Harlem for a Spring Potluck Patio Spruce Up and Opening! Event information here. Gardeners and gardening gear needed!

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.

Compost Giveback! The NYC Compost Project hosted by LES Ecology Center in partnership with Harlem Grown are having an Earth Month and Arbor Day celebration at Harlem Grown’s NEW urban farm: next Saturday, April 30th, 11am to 2pm at 71-77 W 127th Street. FREE compost will be available to NYC residents and community groups on a first-come, first-served basis. The compost is loose, so those interested in getting compost will need to bring their own strong storage containers. We will not have compost storage containers or bags onsite. Doubled garbage bags, sand bags, or pails are excellent options. There will be seed starting activities and street tree care demonstrations. Questions about the event? Reach out to Vanessa Ventola: vanessa@lesecologycenter.org or call 212-477-4022. Event information here.

GreenThumb community gardens are eligible to win $20,000 to refresh their garden space. During Earth Month, the National Recreation and Park Association is collaborating with The Walt Disney Company, including Disney Citizenship, Disney|ABC Television Group and ESPN on the Parks Build Community Contest. You can nominate and vote on parks in your neighborhood throughout the month of April. The website is here.

With help from 596 Acres, East New York’s Warwick Street Greenery Glow Garden has been brought back to life! More photos of last weekend’s workday here. East New Yorkers, help steward this revived garden – contact your neighbors through Living Lots NYC: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/3040630015/

no terminara facilmente,
596 Acres