Coming up this weekend, the Lower East Side community will come together for a remembrance of urban gardening pioneer Adam Purple.
The trailblazing environmentalist, whose real name was David Wilkie, died of an apparent heart attack September 14 while bicycling across the Williamsburg Bridge. He was 84. Beginning in 1975, Purple created a remarkable green space called the “Garden of Eden” on several Forsyth Street lots. It was destroyed a decade later by the city to make way for a housing project.
Here are the details we received yesterday from the organizations planning memorial events:
Volunteers from the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS), Time’s Up! Environmental group and members of La Plaza Cultural Community Garden will join forces to honor Adam Purple with simultaneous celebrations: a pop-up exhibit at MoRUS featuring photos, videos and memorabilia marking Adam’s life and a mini-fair at La Plaza with performances, arts and crafts and spoken word tributes among other activities. MoRUS is located at 155 Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets; La Plaza, 9th Street and the corner of Avenue C. Events at MoRUS and La Plaza are free and open to the public. Angelica Kitchen, a neighborhood institution where sustainable agriculture and responsible business practices have been in play since it opened in 1976, will provide refreshments… Time’s Up environmental organization is raising tax-deductible donations for a green burial at 1pm on September 25 at Greensprings Natural Burial Preserve in Newfield, NY. Remaining funds will be used to preserve Adam’s history through photographs, videos and other artifacts. To contribute, please visit: times-up.org/membership-support.
More information available via the Facebook invite.
