Abstract
The fouth chapter discusses the emergence of community gardens in New York City with special focus on the South Bronx: Since the 1970s community gardens have been created and maintained by residents in New York City’s low-income areas like the South Bronx. This emergence is discussed by looking at the social and economic background of the study area as well as community gardens in context with urban land use and community open spaces and housing in specific.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
New York’s 16th congressional district consists of the following neighborhoods: Bedford Park, East Tremont, Fordham, Hunts Point, Melrose, Highbridge, Morrisania, Mott Haven and University Heights, Yankee Stadium, Fordham University and the Bronx Zoo. It is t larger than the area that I call the South Bronx in this research.
- 2.
The Park Association of New York City is today called the Parks Council.
- 3.
The park still exists today and is called Rev. Linnette C. Williamson Memorial Park.
- 4.
One of these lots still exists at the northwest corner of 128th Street and Fifth Avenue.
- 5.
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) register their gardens with GreenThumb, but do not receive a license since these gardens are situated on private land. GreenThumb provides the gardens with small items, like plants and seeds, but not large items, like lumber, structures or soil.
- 6.
On December 30, 1997, the community gardens Little Puerto Rico, Chico Mendez, and the other community gardens on East 11th Street were demolished.
- 7.
As with other figures concerning community gardens in New York City, the total number up for auction varies from 119 gardens (Ferguson 1999a) to 118 gardens (The New York Times 1999) to 114 gardens (Gittleman et al. 2010) to 112 gardens (Herszenhorn 1999). However, the figure of 112 gardens seems to be correct since two gardens, one in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and one in Corona, Queens, had previously been removed from the auction list by the Giuliani administration in response to community pressure.
References
American Community Gardening Association (1992) A research agenda for the impact of community greening. https://communitygarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/researchagenda92.pdf. Accessed 29 Oct 29 2016
American Community Gardening Association (1998) National community gardening survey: 1996. https://communitygarden.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/12/CGsurvey96part1.pdf. Accessed 29 Oct 2016
Berger J (2005) Goodbye south Bronx blight, Hello SoBro New York Times June 24, 2005. www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24bronx.html. Accessed 20 Sept 2013
Brewer, G A (2015) How our gardens grow. Strategies for expanding urban agriculture. Manhattan Borough President. April, 2015. http://manhattanbp.nyc.gov/downloads/pdf/GardenReport.pdf. Accessed 21 Nov 2016
Campbell B (1970) Project in South Bronx Begins Under U.S. Model Cities Plans. July 14, 1970, New York Times, New York, NY. http://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/14/archives/project-in-south-bronx-begins-under-us-model-cities-plans.html?_r=0. Accessed 13 Sept 2016
Chronopoulos T (2009) Urban decline and the withdrawal of new York University from University Heights, the Bronx. The Bronx historical society Journal, 46,1, 2. Bronx, NY, pp. 4–24
Earth Celebrations (1998) Garden preservation update! http://earthcelebrations.com//wp-content/uploads/updates/update042498.html. Accessed 29 Oct 2016
Englander D (2001) New York's community gardens-a resource at risk. Trust for Public Land. www.tpl.org/content_documents/nyc_community_gardens.pdf. Accessed 6 Jan 2009
Feldman JM (1997) A solution to New York‘s affordable housing crisis. Working paper. New York: Business, Labour and Community Coalition of New York. October, 1997. http://www.webcom.com/ncecd/affordablehousing.html. Accessed 3 May 2005
Fergueson S (1999) The death of little Puerto Rico. New Village Journal, 1. www.newvillage.net/Journal/Issue1/1littlepuertorico.html. Accessed 6 Jan 2009
Fox T et al (1984) Struggle for space: the greening of new York City, 1970–1984. Neighborhood Open Space Coalition, New York
Francis M et al (1984) Community open spaces. Greening neighborhoods through community action and land conservation. Island Press, Covelo
Gittleman M et al (2010) 2009/2010 community garden survey and report. GreenThumb and GrowNYC, New York
Gonzalez E (2004) The Bronx. Columbia University Press, New York/Chichester, West Sussex
Herszenhorn DM (1999) Protesters fight auctioning of community garden sites. New York Times May 06, 1999. www.nytimes.com/1999/05/06/nyregion/protesters-fight-auctioning-of-community-garden-sites.html. Accessed 9 Sept 2013
Jacobs J (1961) The death and life of great American cities. Random House, Inc., New York
Jonnes J (1986) We’re still here. Second edition, 2002: South Bronx rising: the rise, fall and resurrection of an American city. Fordham University Press, New York
Leonhardt D (2005) U.S. poverty rate was up last year. New York times. August 31, 2005. www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/national/31census.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0. Accessed 21 March 2014
Linn K (2007) Building commons and community. New Village Press, Oakland
McCain M (1987) A new mall for the South Bronx hub. New York Times February 1, 1987.. www.nytimes.com/1987/02/01/realestate/a-new-mall-for-the-south-bronx-hub.html. Accessed 9 Feb 2014
More Gardens! (2007) NYS office of community gardens. March 23, 2007. www.moregardens.org/node/147. Accessed 22 March 2014
National Recreation and Park Association (1974) Open space and recreation opportunity in America’s inner cities. National technical information service, United States Department of Commerce, prepared for Department of Housing and Urban Development, July 1974
Newfield J, DuBrul PA (1977) The abuse of power: the government and the fall of New York. Viking Press, New York
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (2016a) Rev. Linnette C. Williamson Memorial Park. https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/historical-signs/listings?id=12811. Accessed 24 July 2016
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (2016b) Rediscovery and Restoration (1965–1987). https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/timeline/rediscovery-restoration. Accessed 24 July 2016
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (2014) Rules & Regulations of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, § 6–01 Definitions. Chapter 6 to Title 56 of the Official Compilation of Rules of the City of New York. www.nycgovparks.org/rules. Accessed 9 Feb 2014
New Yorkers for Parks (2003) Council district profiles, 2003. www.ny4p.org. Accessed 15 Jan 2014
Sciorra J (1996) Return to the future: Puerto Rican vernacular architecture in new York City. In Re-presenting the City. Ethnicity, capital and culture in the twenty-first century metropolis. King D., Anthony, Editor. Houndsville, Basingstoke, Hampshire and London: Macmillan Press Ltd. pp 60–92
Silver A (1967) City fights white exodus from grand concourse. March 9,1967, New York Post, New York, NY
Sisk R (2010) South Bronx is poorest district in nation, U.S. Census Bureau finds: 38% live below poverty line. New York Daily News. September 29, 2010. www.nydailynews.com/new-york/south-bronx-poorest-district-nation-u-s-census-bureau-finds-38-live-poverty-line-article-1.438344#ixzz2fTTk8fpj. Accessed 20 Sept 2013
Stone E (2000) Community gardening in New York City becomes a political movement. Paper presented at the conference “Perspectives of small-scale farming in urban and rural areas-about the social and ecological necessity of gardens and informal agriculture”, Berlin, Germany. July 22, 2000. Userpage.Fu-berlin.De/garten/texte.Html.. Accessed 16 Mar 2008
The New York Times (1999) For sale: the garden of Eden. January 14, 1999.. www.nytimes.com/1999/01/14/opinion/for-sale-the-garden-of-eden.html. Accessed 26 Nov 2016
TreeBranch Network (2012) Community Gardens. http://treebranch.org/community_gardens.htm. Accessed 18 May 2012
Washington Post (1999) On politics U.S. House-NY / District 16. NEW YORK 16: South Bronx. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2000/states/ny/house/ny16. Accessed 17 May 2012
Worth R (1999) Guess who saved the Bronx? The silent partner in community development. Washington Monthly, 31, 4. Washington, DC: the Washington Monthly. April, 1999. www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/1999/9904.worth.bronx.html. Accessed 17 May 2012
Zimmer A, Bautista C (2015) De Blasio’s Affordable housing plan could destroy 15 community gardens. January 16, 2015. https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150116/morningside-heights/community-gardens-threatened-by-de-blasios-affordable-housing-plan. Accessed 23 Nov 2016
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mees, C. (2017). The Emergence of Community Gardens in New York with Focus on the South Bronx. In: Participatory Design and Self-building in Shared Urban Open Spaces. Urban Agriculture. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75514-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75514-4_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75513-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75514-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)