No News is... Good News?

You may have been wondering what is happening with this space and, I have to admit, I have too.  It seems we've fallen into that rabbit hole called political beaurocracy; but I'm encouraged we're finding our way back into the (green) light.

Paula Segal of 596 Acres has noted in the past that many of us "green space warriors" are on new territory here, with the city for instance, and so we have been finding our way, two steps forward, one step back at times.  We are lucky, however, to have Lincoln Restler on our side.

Lincoln Restler is the Democratic State Committeeman for Brooklyn's 50th Assembly which includes Greenpoint.   Lincoln has become a strong advocate of our project and a great asset to our progress.  We were honored to have him at our last group meeting; he was also in attendance at The Public School New York's class, #whOWNSpace GREENPOINT: Observe, Diagram, Intervene, on January 29.  

At the #whOWNSpace class, we all had the opportunity to tour the Greenpoint waterfront areas that are zoned or are under zoning consideration for development into public green space and to, well, "observe, diagram..." and make  plans to "intervene" as appropriate.  One of the stops along the way was 59 Java Street.  Eric Brelsford was in attendance and had a few words to say about 596 Acres and their role in inspiring the actions not only of the Java St Garden Collaborative but of other groups across Brooklyn.


In the past week, Lincoln has been in conversation with NYC's HPD (Housing Preservation & Development) department, which ultimately has jurisdiction over the lot at 59 Java St. and the discretion to grant us access to that land, as well as CB1 (Community Board 1) which serves the Greenpoint community in all its issues and concerns.  

We hope to have some definitive answers in the coming days and so, as always, WATCH THIS SPACE!

It's Front Page News

http://www.newyorkshitty.com/greenpoint-goodness/?p=72652We have been written about from the Greenpoint Star to the newyorkshitty.com blog...

www.greenpointstar.com/view/full_story/17290386/article-A-garden-is-soon-to-grow-in-Greenpoint-?instance=home_news_right

The F.E.A.S.T. Must Go On

Snow or no snow, 596 Acres will be hosting their F.E.A.S.T. #12 TODAY from 5 to 8pm at the Church of the Messiah in Greenpoint.  Current projects are listed here, so come out and show your love for the Java St Garden Collective!  For 20 clams you will enjoy dinner with beer from Brooklyn Brewery.  Admission is first come, first served, so get there early.  Read about F.E.A.S.T. Brooklyn here and get your snow boots ready to attend their 12th tonight at:

F.E.A.S.T. Brooklyn/#12 Proposals
Church of the Messiah, Greenpoint
129 Russell St btn Nassau & Driggs

But wait, there's more:  Tomorrow, Sunday, is 596 Acres General Assembly from 5:30 to 7:30pm which will focus on folks actively engaged in the process of converting vacant public land into democratically governed, community-determined food and green space. This will be a chance for all to talk about best practices, how our networks can best support each other and what about the 596Acres platform you found most useful and most lacking. 

Members of 462 Halsey Community Garden, A Small Green Patch, Myrtle Village Green and yours truly, all projects of 596 Acres, are all coming, as well as organizers who have inquired about other vacant public land.  Also invited are representatives from IOBY, The Design Trust for Public Space 5 Borough Farm Project, the Brooklyn Food Coalition and the 596 Acres team.

596 Acres General Assembly/Active Organizers
The Commons Brooklyn
388 Atlantic Avenue btn Hoyt & Bond

Oh yeah, and did I mention pie?  Yes, there will be Four and Twenty Blackbirds pie.

Muppets Do It!

With the January blues well upon us, here's some inspiration while we wait out winter and await our turn to present our project to the city.

A hearing date is still pending, and we have begun to reach out to other agencies besides Green Thumb, i.e. CB1 directly, for a broader scope of opportunity to be granted access to the site at 59 Java Street. We all are sort of in new territory with this movement toward reclaiming unused public land for the benefit of surrounding communities, and so the "proper channels" are not so clearly defined or are becoming redefined.

So, for now enjoy this classic Sesame Street sketch and stay warm!

Sesame Street Garden Cooperation

IOBY Launches Our First Fundraising Project

We are please to announce that ioby has launched our first fundraising project, PHASE 1, which you can read about (and donate to) at https://ioby.org/project/java-st-garden-collaborative-phase-1.

ioby is an organization that connects change with resources. They saw a movement brewing, a movement toward people taking back their environment, creating renewed and revitalized areas of their own neighborhoods, doing it all on their own, and out of their own pockets. These were labors of love, no doubt, and happening in pockets here and there but with no cohesion. This is a movement after all and the dots needed to be connected. A platform needed to be created. Enter ioby.org.

ioby was founded in 2008 by Cassie Flynn, Brandon Whitney and Erin Barnes, and as Erin says, “We know people care about the environment, but their most prominent option is to purchase something. Buying a table or a new light bulb leaves a lot of people thinking, ‘Now what?’ They are hungry to get their hands dirty." Having studied water conservation, climate change and community resources at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the three friends knew that the face of change could be powerful and actionable, meaningful and, most importantly, local.

ioby.org enables all of us to invest in change—then see (and live with) the return on our investment. There are no celebrities, no large-scale protests. There are everyday neighbors taking small steps—bringing sunlight, open space, fresh food and greenery into our backyards.

As soon as Paula Segal at 596acres.org heard about our budding project, she alerted Helen Ho, Neighborhood Outreach and Project Support Manager from ioby, who immediately contacted Stella Goodall, our organizer and founder, to assist us with creating the necessary fundraising efforts to get us started.

And so, we bring you PHASE 1 of our community garden project. Funds for PHASE 1 will enable us to break ground, giving us the tools to do so literally and to begin our first project of planting materials that will have an environmentally remediatory (is that a word?) effect on the soil quality of our site. We will monitor improvements, and our space will not only develop into and serve as a beautiful green space to be enjoyed by all but also as an educational environment as we post storyboards throughout the site with our progress on this and all our endeavors.

You can read about and donate to our PHASE 1 project by going to:

https://ioby.org/project/java-st-garden-collaborative-phase-1

If you are inspired by what we are up to, please also share this project with people you know who would like to make a difference in our communities by becoming a contributor to the Java St Garden Collaborative.

596 Acres Organizing Groups Across Brooklyn

At our most recent meeting, we were joined by Paula Segal of 596 Acres whose organization has enabled at least one group so far to go ahead with their community garden project: 426 Halsey Community Garden.

Organizer Shatia Jackson says "We have had two weekends of working on the garden thus far. and I can't believe how far we have gotten! We completed our compost station which has 4 bins, raked up all the dead leaves to use for compost, got rid of about 15 bags of garbage and pruned all the trees to optimize sunlight. The volunteer turnout was amazing: at our peak we had at least 20 people helping out. The community's interest is overwhelming! For anyone who would like to help out, we will have our gates open every weekend as long as weather permits. "

596 Acres is a public education project aimed at making communities aware of the land resources around them. With the goal of a food sovereign New York City in mind, 596 Acres is helping neighbors form connections to the vacant lots in their lives -- from the smallest (throwing a seed bomb) to the largest (hosting a public meeting with the head of a City Agency that owns a vacant lot that was promised to the community as a park, see myrtlepark.org). Thanks to the Center for the Study of Brooklyn, we have learned that many of these lots are actually publicly owned and are developing a platform for negotiating interim and long term community uses for this warehoused public space.

596 acres is how much vacant public land existed in Brooklyn alone as of April 2010. If even a small portion of that was committed to neighborhood food production, we would have an abundance of fresh seasonal vegetables to eat! And think of all the grassy parks we could have! And composting sites! And whatever else Brooklynites and their neighbors know they need.

Contextual information provided by the Center for the Study of Brooklyn.