Not long ago we heard from local resident Helen Avery, who has created a free guide to the amazing community gardens of the Lower East Side. Allow her to explain:
I’ve been a member of La Plaza Cultural Community Garden for several years and was surprised that there had been very little, if any, data collected on the value of the gardens – what they offer in terms of composting, community events, and supporting native wildlife like bats, frogs, birds etc.
There are 48 gardens on the Lower East Side, but no one document that shows what they each have. It is my hope that it will serve to show how diverse and rich the Lower East Side garden district is to visitors and to residents – perhaps even help establish them as permanent – but also that it will provide a network for the gardens – gardeners wishing to set up composting, for example, can see easily which of their peers have already gone through the process.
Partnership for Parks funded the grant to help create the map. Hopefully it will complement the work of Gardens Rising, which is looking at the importance of the gardens for water capture in the event of flooding. What I loved about the project was that I had to visit every garden. It’s easy to never venture beyond a two-block radius in the East Village and yet there are so many hidden treasures with each of these gardens. It was wonderful seeing how hyper-local communities are coming together and doing great things for our neighborhood, city and planet.
The maps are available at the Sixth Street Community Center, the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, the Loisaida Center and the Clemente. Helen says each of the gardens listed will also have the maps to distribute. You’re also welcome to contact her directly at: helen.avery@gmail.com.
