NEWS FROM THE ORGANIZING ACRES
Weeksville, Brooklyn – Congratulations to organizers of An E.D.E.N. Garden at 45 Somers Street (pictured planning above) for winning a grant from Building Healthy Communities and GreenThumb Growing Food Capacity! They will use it to grow produce and hold educational community events about agribusiness, nutrition, and medicinal uses for herbs and spices in their soon-to-be garden. Contact C. Aaron at wecarethatyoucare@gmail.com, (347) 589-7583 for updates and sign up to Organize here: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/3015380043/

Bedstuy, Brooklyn – After twenty years of neglect, the city is finally moving forward with its 1996 plan to build a sanitation garage on a vacant public lot at 48 Warsoff Place between Park and Flushing. Residents who organized to create a community garden and composting site here called Warsoff Wilds (pdf of plan here) now want a rooftop biodigester and farm to be part of the city’s plan. Plug in with Greg at the Brooklyn Solid Waste Advisory Board meeting next Monday, March 6, 6:30pm, Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, or at imanigreg@gmail.com. Sign up to Organize here: https://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/3017180015/

Crown Heights, Brooklyn – Next Tuesday, March 7 at 6pm, come out and show your support for neighbors organizing to transform a vacant public lot (formerly a Lots for Tots playground) onProspect Place between Albany and Kingston Aves into a community garden as they present to Community Board 8’s Parks Committee at St. John’s Recreation Center, 1251 Prospect Place at Schenectady. Contact Mandy at kordalknitwear@gmail.com or (513) 317-4457 to plug in and sign up to Organize here: https://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/59081/

Bushwick, Brooklyn – On Wednesday, March 15 at 9:30am, we are returning to court to fight forEldert Street Garden! The New York State Attorney General’s Office is investigating the suspicious transfer of the deed to the garden’s land. Show up to show your support for the efforts of the elected Attorney General: Brooklyn Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, room 469. Connect to founding garden member Kim at kim.erika920@gmail.com, connect via facebookhere, and sign up to Organize here: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/3034130063/

Far Rockaway, Queens – Tonight, March 2 from 6:30 to 8pm at the Far Rockaway Public Library, 1637 Central Avenue, meet with neighbors to plan the community garden and compost site for Nameoke Street and Augustina Ave. Allison and Travis were about to partner with the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to turn this vacant public lot into a community compost site when we all found out its jurisdiction was suddenly transferred from DSNY to another City agency. Back to finishing the GreenThumb application! For updates, plug in with Allison: (718) 749-8830, afionaj@gmail.com or Travis: t.andersoncap@gmail.com, (646) 662-0585 and sign up to Organize here: http://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/4155340070/

Tompkinsville, Staten Island – Let’s Rebuild Cromwell Recreation Center Communtiy Coalition is hosting a meeting next Monday, March 6 at 7pm at Brighton Heights Reformed Church, 320 St. Mark’s Place. We helped local advocates get the info they needed to work with the city on rebuilding the abandoned NYC Parks Cromwell Recreation Center last summer via our NYCommons pilot. At Monday’s meeting, NYC Parks officials and Urbahn Architects will share results of a feasibility study and new location search. More information on the coalition’s facebook page here. Sign up to Organize here: https://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/5004870100/

Concord, Staten Island – Last weekend at the Garden Get Together at Snug Harbor (photo here), local teacher Deb told us about an abandoned strip of land next to her school on Targee Street near Venice Ave. We looked at the data and discovered that the NYC Departments of Education and Parks share jurisdiction of it; it’s supposed to be part of a playground! Now Deb is organizing to make it a community garden. Join her! Email hoffman523@hotmail.com, call (917) 273-2320 or sign up to Organize here: https://livinglotsnyc.org/lot/6000050003/

OUR LOTS WITH ACCESS
Harlem, Manhattan – Neighbors transformed an abandoned city-owned lot at W 126th Street near Frederick Douglass into a wildflower meadow, and now they are fighting to keep it. Show your support for Mandela Community Garden next Wednesday March 8 at 6:30pm at Community Board 10’s Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting at 215 West 125th Street, 4th Floor. Sign this petition to help right now! Read more here and connect on facebook here.

COLLABORATORS
Prospect Park, Brooklyn – The 36th Annual Making Brooklyn Bloom conference, Connecting the Drops, is next Saturday, March 11 from 10am to 4pm at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 990 Washington Ave! Arrive between 10am and 11am for admission and to pick your workshops for the day. Check out the line-up of workshops, panel discussions, and films here.

Wakefield, Bronx; East Harlem, Manhattan; Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan – Get your garden ready for spring with these upcoming GreenThumb workshops on starting seeds, prepping your soil, and organizing your group for success! Details here.

JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Design Trust For Public Space is accepting applications for the Equitable Public Space Fellowship. Become a staff member for an intensive one-year fellowship from June 2017 to July 2018 intended to create a model for bringing more voices, skill sets, and life experiences into the practice of design for public space. Deadline is Monday, March 20. More information here.

Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council is hiring a year round Farmers Market Manager and Assistant Farmer! To apply, send cover letter and resume to bblood@rbscc.org. More here.

GREEN FOR YOUR GREEN
Crown Heights, Brooklyn – Brooklyn Community Foundation is awarding Neighborhood Strength grants of $10,000 to $50,000 in Community District 8 (Crown Heights North) and Community District 9 (Crown Heights South) to expand and create inclusive community spaces. Deadline to apply is Tuesday, March 21. More information and a link to the online application here.

Citizens Committee, the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is giving up to $750 to start or expand community compost projects in NYC. Funds can be used to build compost bins, purchase other compost materials or tools, do outreach and education, and more. Applications due Friday, March 24. Contact Katie with questions at kgrassile@citizensnyc.org or (212) 822-9567. More information here.

Need wood chips or mulch for your community garden? NYC Parks may have some to share. Contact Shawn Spencer at shawn.spencer@parks.nyc.gov or (917) 682-8401

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.

Our advocacy is working: Black Veterans for Social Justice’s Veteran Resource Center in Bedstuy, Brooklyn, & Al-Muneer Community Center in Hollis, Queens, are now safe from vanishing due to the tax lien sale!

Please check if places you love are at risk, and find out what to do if they are, here. 

gratitude,
596 Acres