Photo by Adi Talwar
In the last five years, Elizabeth Carson has enjoyed cultivating her horticultural passions at Risse Street Garden, a tiny oasis insulated from the malaise of traffic at Jerome Avenue and Risse Street on the tip of Norwood.
She’s proud to have put in the time. As a full-fledged volunteer gardener, Carson is entitled to keys to the city-owned garden, allowing her time to work the landscape, tend to perennials and enjoy the therapeutic thrill of seeing the birth of plants.
But since last year, Carson’s sense of tranquility at the garden has been disrupted by a war of words with fellow garden members whose steering committee voted to dramatically reduce her gardening privileges. Carson views her punishment as illegitimate since the committee issuing the vote was short one member. Garden bylaws dictate all steering committee members must be present for a vote. Carson, steadfast, is unwilling to concede.
“I may not win, but I can’t accept what’s been done,” she said.
The Risse Street Garden saga has also raised questions on the role played by GreenThumb, a division of the New York City Department of Parks, which licenses the space to Risse Garden. GreenThumb mandates gardens create some organizational structure, which includes enacting bylaws.
And though the 28-year-old garden falls under GreenThumb, Carson says the garden’s bylaws are played fast and loose with little recourse. The agency, for better or worse, leaves it to gardens to enforce their bylaws.
“Responsibility that the gardeners have is to operator above board, on the record, in some agreed upon fashion,” said Carson.
A Growing Problem
The seeds of friction were sown in Oct. 2016 when talk of a pond project inside the garden was in the works. The project’s pre-construction phase hadn’t gone as smooth as it should have, Carson said, citing costs and a vague plan to build it.
The criticism drew the ire of the pond’s volunteer project manager, Brendan O’Regan. After writing an email outlining ways to improve construction of the project while also relaying her concerns to Community Board 7, Carson alleges that O’Regan lobbied garden members to remove most of her privileges. O’Regan told the Norwood News the situation could’ve been handled without Carson bringing it to CB7.
“All she had to do was say put a motion out on the garden and then say, ‘I want a vote to do this or do that or stop the pond,’” said O’Regan. “She voted for the pond at that time. If she had any problem, all she had to do was call immediately a steering [committee] meeting or a general meeting of the garden. Call a motion for anything she chooses too. And she never did that.”
Adding to the issue were two residents advocating for Carson, claiming to be CB7 members. Though Carson insisted she did not send them, O’Regan said their presence violated the garden’s bylaws which mandate friends or guests of garden members must be civilized.
Despite only four of the five steering committee members on hand, a vote was passed to remove Carson’s plant beds though keeping her membership status.
“I’ve been punished for speaking out,” said Carson. “That’s not against the rules.”
O’Regan admits the steering committee was down a member but a sanction was still approved by GreenThumb. “We did many things in the past without full steering memberships, which is very normal. The director of GreenThumb told me. It’s very normal,” said O’Regan.
GreenThumb
Elizabeth Carson’s relentless crusade for garden governance (she’s collected nearly 40,000 signatures in a petition supporting her right to keep her garden beds) has raised the question of enforceability of a garden’s bylaws. Though GreenThumb offers mediation, it does not police gardens. Rather, garden groups are encouraged to resolve conflicts internally. This contradicting approach confounds Carson, who at one point wrote to the director of GreenThumb questioning its paradox. For Carson, bylaws should be enforced by GreenThumb.
“They want to say to a garden, ‘Write your bylaws, follow your bylaws. It’s on you,’” said Carson of GreenThumb. “We have bylaws, but they are terribly weak.”
Carson should know. She co-wrote the bylaws. GreenThumb gardens are now in the beginning stages of updating their bylaws, supporting Carson’s view that GreenThumb is involved with the garden governance but absolves itself from enforceability in messy situations.
O’Regan wants the laws amended too, though he notes the by-the-book sanction on Carson was just. “And [GreenThumb] would have stepped in if there was something unfair or unjust being done,” said O’Regan. “That’s their job. And they would have. And they told me that they would. But they can’t because there’s nothing unfair or unjust being done.”
Lack of funds is to blame for an understaffed agency as GreenThumb.
“New York City Parks has worked closely with Risse Garden over the past year and continues to do so, offering resources and conflict mediation assistance. We strive to help our gardens maintain harmonious environments,” said Kelly Krause, a Parks Department spokesperson.
Currently, GreenThumb’s executive team staffs 10 outreach coordinators who work with members for each of the nearly 600 sponsored gardens.
Workloads for each coordinator appear heavy. In the Bronx, for instance, one of the two coordinators oversees 69 of the 115 community gardens scattered across the borough’s city-owned properties. The other oversees the rest, with 20 more in Manhattan.
GreenThumb, created in 1978, holds monthly gardening workshops while offering technical support. The Department of Parks could not provide a total budget for GreenThumb, though revealed its cost on supplies stands at $774,000, with much of the funds coming from New York City than ever before. That’s largely due to the Trump Administration’s constant threat to do away with its Community Development Block Grant program, which at one point funded 43 percent of GreenThumb’s budget.
“GreenThumb dodged a bullet last year when the Community Development Block Grant wasn’t cut. Working with New York City Parks, we advocated for the protection of the program, and it did receive additional city funding in fiscal year 2018,” said Lynn Bodnar Kelly, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, a park advocacy group. “However, it’s risky to have a local program depend so heavily on federal funding, particularly when the politics of New York City are so different from the politics of Washington.”
Among the only things that O’Regan and Carson could agree on was a faster outcome on the part of GreenThumb.
“Maybe that’s part of the reason why this has dragged on for so long,” said O’Regan of the staffing.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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Elizabeth was always so proud of her garden beds and posted pictures frequently on FB. She tended to her plants regularly and was proud of her garden. I don’t live in NYC, and have a yard and take my gardens for granted. But, sadly, the committee, voted to end her beautiful garden beds because she spoke up about a pond, a pond she apparently voted for, but had constructive criticism for. And, if the bylaws stated a specific number of committee members need be present to have had the vote that ousted her beds, then it should have been followed. What is a bylaw for? Just words? It is neither here nor there whether the committee voted on issues in the past without the correct number of members. Those votes need be discounted as well. Policy folks, it is there to add a framework for and a reliable measure for committees and such. One cannot push and agenda without following the bylaws. The oversight organization should have taken steps to support Elizabeth on this objection. They had an opportunity to do so. Furthermore, what is most alarming to me is that action was taken over her criticism. This is what is so wrong with society today. One needs to agree with the masses. You know, you get a better product when you open the discussion to all viewpoints. Perhaps, Elizabeth was on to something.
I worked at the Green Thumb office when I was in college … the staff were wonderful and thoughtful …. I later started my own Green Thumb garden on Simpson Street … Ms. Carson is within her rights and is being harassed by an envious and insensitive dictatorship …. there was no need to go against her … she seems to have contributed to the garden more than most of her colleagues …. so much for hard work and dedication … SMDH!
She is always on to something, and this is a very good something. Spreading this post to all my friends because she – Elizabeth Carson – is not the only person to have the good sense to have a good garden. She’s one of many. And she’s right.
Now, if you don’t have you’re own garden, go to the local store and buy some LOCAL produce. Feed the people who feed you. Peace and good eats.
This is a terribly unjust situation. Ms. Carson was an active member who brought beauty to the garden for years. But for petty personal politics resulting in expulsion by a kangaroo court, she would still be doing so. I truly hope this situation is remedied.
Wow! Doesn’t seem to be a trick question that the bylaws need to be followed as written.
Elizabeth is doing an amazing job in bringing gardening into the heart of an urban area where people are more and more feeling disconnected from the the very process that provides the very substance of life.
My understanding is that Elizabeth only voiced concerns about the safety of the design and construction of the pond, not the concept itself.
Why a simple concern for the safety of fellow gardeners would be met by ostracizing her is beyond me.
Her full rights and gardening beds should be returned to her, her concerns should be fully weighed and bylaws should be adhered to.
All that Elizabeth Carson has wanted is to ensure that the Risse garden is operated in accordance to its bylaws as well as any applicable local rules and regulations. She has maintained a meticulous record of all the actions taken and events leading up to her illegal expulsion, which is based on innuendo and outright lies, and she is fighting the good fight because the garden is being managed by a bully who has intimidated the gardeners but has failed to intimidate Elizabeth. She enjoys a great deal of community support despite the attempts to use misinformation and inaccuracies to harass her and deprive her of access to the garden. It is unfortunate that matters have escalated to this level and Green Thumb bears some responsibility for not doing its due diligence in overseeing, not only Risse Garden, but all the community gardens under its purview. It is hoped that Elizabeth’s efforts will force Green Thumb to be more “hands-on” with respect to the governance of community gardens, as well as help community gardens to manage themselves more responsibly.
It’s appalling that both Project Green Thumb and the local police have not done the right thing to the bullies that are creating drama in this garden. Without a doubt the City should have intervened. It looks as though Ms. Carson has been fighting this battle alone.
Wouldn’t a pond without inflow and out flow just be a mosquito breeding swamp ?
I’ve known Elizabeth for a few years. She loves gardening. She posts many photos of her projects on her Facebook page. They are always refreshing. Please don’t curtail her privileges
I live in Chicago, but I have seen Elizabeth Carson’s prodigious efforts come to fruition in those city gardens. Her advocacy and her passion keep these urban gardens alive. I am totally behind her in all her ‘Urbis in orbis’ endeavors.
Ms. Carson provokes some keen reasoning:
On the one hand, a well-appointed, well-tended and altogether beautiful garden of gorgeous, colorful flowers, a delight enjoyed by neighbors and passers-by, a rare experience for young and old, reminding us of natural beauties often eclipsed by urban landscapes and so many of us in a hurry to go wherever.
On the other, a pond, perhaps some zen concept or even a place for Koi, all pleasant enough but demanding, fussy regular maintenance year-round and then there’s unpleasant possibilities.
Will it become one of those `ponds’ where the green slick bears mosquitos, and perhaps even the Zika Virus? Or will little children wander around it and maybe fall in? Or drink from the pond along with vermin and anything else that gets thirsty. Would it become a sort of spa— or such— for urban campers?
Frankly, for me, weighing the pro’s and con’s, the ups and downs of both, I see a marvelous experience, a visual bouquet of beautiful flowers bringing the garden to life, rather than some ol’ pond where the birds bathe and little dogs folic along with God knows who or what else. Or worse.
The flowers have it.
Elizabeth lives passion for her gardening. Unjustly ousted from Risse Garden, she continues to advocate for that which she loves, that which she knows to be right. Squabbles aside, Elizabeth seems to have the experience, drive, know-how, leadership, and love for gardening necessary to maintain Risse Bliss.
This is a complete travesty, where is justice when it is needed. I can’t believe the lack of human respect on display here. It’s truly appalling and something needs to be resolved to her benefit pronto!
seems to me that this is a public land.. it seems further that Ms. Carson benefits this public land. it seems only appropriate then that she be allowed to do so; rather than personal squabbling preventing just that, despite Ms. Carson only voicing her concerns; an important part of political discourse.
Elizabeth Carson has put in so many years of hard work and dedication into this garden. This is my neighborhood and I want to see her beautiful garden beds and so do many of my neighbors!
Having known Elizabeth Carson for many years I can attest to the fact that she loves being and is an avid gardener. All of this seems to be very punitive and clannish and not at all in the spirit of creating something beautiful for everyone to enjoy. I appreciate the fact that she continues to give voice and fight for some balance and fairness. “reduced the number of her beds”…..how absurd…
So does it all come down to Trump? If people cannot come to an agreement re: a community garden, is there hope for the city? Cannot good horticultural intentions and action be honored?
The fact that Elizabeth Carson has collected 40,000 signatures speaks not only to her passion and tenacity but to the fact that the public supports her. I cannot make sense out of sanctioning her because she expressed a disagreement with a proposed policy. When did community gardens become dictatorships? Elizabeth brings beauty to the garden and to the community. Forbidding her to do so is a travesty.
It’s interesting to me how phony, self-serving expressions of “it’s normal”, objections of someone speaking-up publicly, and unfair sanctions against them – allowing continued membership while taking away their garden plots – amidst organizations in need of better policy & bylaws, might prevail against a single person so unfairly.
This garden needs a reset. I’m not sure how that might occur, but Ms. Carson’s flowers should continue to bloom, her flower beds restored her, beginning immediately.
After that, all concerned work out the details, set aside animosities, effectively revise the organizational policies and bylaws, as soon as possible. Spring is here, let renewal and growth begin now…isn’t that what Mother Nature would want?
Who is O’Regan to be so demanding? Sounds like a bully. Why should O’Regan’s advice be taken over Carson’s? Carson has proven her worth; this woman has worked so diligently for no money.Why should she be treated so shabbily? It was downright nasty to remover her beds. They should be restored.
No pond! The garden must stay intact and it must be maintained for the sake of thoughtful and caring city life! Ms. Carson is a very intelligent, conscientious person and is doing good for the community.
a garden with flowers or vegetables would attract pollinators. a water feature if not properly maintained would attract flys and mosquitos. Ms.Carson is right to question. Follow your own bylaws as written.
There should be better laws protecting people like Elizabeth who is passionate only to create something beautiful…
I have known Elizabeth for many years. What happened here is completely unfair and a travesty. There is no point in having bylaws if they are not followed to the letter. Having a pond in a garden can be problematic as other comments have pointed out. Punishing Elizabeth for speaking out was mean spirited and vindictive!
It’s amazing what Elizabeth is doing and I hope that she finds success and peace
It seems odd to me that a garden would have to fight a political battle to survive and thrive but Elizabeth is much like a plant…you can try to bury her but she’ll just sprout and grow stronger
Kudos, Elizabeth!!! Keep up the good work!
It’s obvious that Ms. Carson is being labeled as a troublemaker,when in essence she just loves to garden. The problem with the installation of a Pond is the disruption of more than just the whole Garden project for the laying of pipes to insure the pond not be a cesspool filled with algae.
Also who has the right to say whose civilized ? How is one civil,through dress,speech,actions ? That’s a very slippery slope. You slipped when you started to pick & choose whose beds to remove and why. Shame !
Reinstall her priviledges to garden,immediately !
i have known elizabeth for many years now, she has a great love of nature and of gardening. it is a sad moment in our times,when a person can be punished, for speaking her mind,and for having insight on how the process should and can be done to benefit everyone.
Elizabeth Carson’s passion for gardening and preserving this garden is a very noble quest and she should not be punished for expressing her concerns for the community’s garden.
What is being done to thwart the efforts of Elizabeth Carson is outrageous.. Her passion and love of gardening and to help beautify the neighborhood is being fought because she expressed her concerns about the COMMUNITY’S GARDEN..
Very mean and petty to have her beds removed!!
This is a classic example of bureaucratic bullshit! Elizabeth is devoting personal time and effort, to better the community end this is the thanks she gets from those who who obviously don’t see the value of her contributions.
This is bureaucratic bullshit! Elizabeth is devoting personal time and effort, and money to better the community end this is the thanks she gets from those who who obviously don’t see the value of her contributions.
I cannot understand the reasoning behind the treatment Elizabeth has received, why try to diminish her work which gives her peace of mind & the passerby something beautiful to see in an otherwise concrete jungle. If one cannot merely speak their mind without repercussion on the simplest of things, what are we turning into?
Elizabeth loves gardening it is relaxing,and allows her to create something beautiful to share with the passerby, by taking that away everyone loses, sharing is the reason why we are all here, by simply giving her opinion Elizabeth gets punished. If one cannot simply express themselve what have we become?
What shall we have without a beautiful garden , cement and asphalt ? oh how boring !!! Elizabeth Carson’s Green Thumb let mother nature shine through !!! Her dedication and untiring efforts are beyond are thought . her sacrifice of giving unsalaried time is amazing !!! look at nature, look at flowers and green grass and all plant life, then look at the dark blackness of the dirty asphalt street , , , which do you prefer ?
Sounds like modern day bullying. Who are these people who voted to remove Elizabeth Carson from gardening? This is unjust. Elizabeth did a lot to help this particular garden area through social media Her 40k signatures shows how far of a reach she has brining information, beauty and gardening tips to a lot of people. Very sad that this can be done to someone like her.
My experience of the garden is seeing the beautiful flowers 💐 and also the herbs that have been grown there. The herbs 🌿 have been shared with our community, and my mom have been bless to use them in our meals. I want to thank everyone who have worked so hard in our community garden and especially Ms: Elizabeth Carson. Thank you.
I always looked forward to Elizabet’s garden that she took such justifiable pride in. She’s put a lot of love and caring as well as blood weat and tears with her breathtaking garden. What a shame to have been witnessing all she has been going through just to fight to keep her beautiful garden. Not only does Elizabether suffer from the stess of what she is going throughfor so long. So many of us who look forward to her progress feel robbed as well.
Ditto! I love seeing Elizabeth’s garden posts. Please correct this situration and allow Elizabeth to return to her passion!
I thank God for people as pure and genuine as Elizabeth. Caring for the beauty the Earth provides is a blessing for us all. This is becoming a world of Cruel Dominance which removes the rights that have been ordained to us by Our Creator. I pray that reason prevails concerning her endeavors. God Bless you Elizabeth Carson; you are a flower among thorns.
I can’t imagine the stress and strain this has caused for Ms. Carson–all because she was growing a garden in a public space! There needs to be some kind of oversight to prevent situations like this from happening. Too often childish behavior and bullying run out or over the good people who seek to make the world a better place. Ask anyone who has served on a PTA!
Kudos to Ms. Carson for standing her ground–pun intended.
I’ve known Ms. Carson for several years and have always marveled at her loyal dedication to her beautiful garden plots and proud of her yearly yield of beautiful flowers and veggies. Ms. Carson has been unjustly targeted by a very tyrannically focused loss of synergy between the “powers that be” and people like Ms. Carson who actually put in the work and sweat it takes to raise such a beautiful bountiful garden plot. Why is so much energy being expended to alienate the very people who make such garden plots a huge success? Disagreements can always be ironed out unless it’s due to some dogged small amount of power by the overseers who should instead focus on welcoming and supporting all gardeners who bless such plots. I stand behind Ms. Carson 100% and believe more attention needs to be given to the voices of her and other dedicated gardeners.
Our community gardens on public land are for everyone.
Those of us with the great privilege of serving as stewards in community gardens have responsibilities too
We must abide rules and regulations of NYC Parks and our licensure agreement with NYC Parks
We must have bylaws and follow those bylaws conscientiously and justly
We must work as stewards in the service to the local community by beautifying, holding open hours and leading garden programs and projects that engage and serve the community
Community is rallying. Community cares. Community matters !!
An injustice in our community garden will not stand
Related Petition :
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/131/251/424/src=referrer&campaign=https%3A%2F%2Fl.facebook.com%2F
I was just at a beekeeping introduction workshop April 23rd at the Risse Street garden. During this workshop Elizabeth showed up to the garden with over a dozen people with protest signs and they disrupted this workshop for over a hour. Now first i had no idea of this garden conflict until today which is why i read this article. After the highly disrespectful and inappropriate behavior of this group i was curious as to what is happening in this garden because clearly something was up. Second the people in attendance today at this workshop are from community gardens not affiliated with Risse from all around the boroughs. My garden had four members there today because we are going to be having a bee hive next year. None of us are a part of or were even aware of this dispute. What is unacceptable is Elizabeth had this group of protesting people rudely blowing whistles and banging on pots and disrupting this bee class being put together by NYCbeekeeping. All of us attending this workshop are doing so because we are starting hive’s in our own gardens and this was class one of a three part series that we are taking on our own free time in order to know what we have to do. Time is a valuable commodity and i have very little of it too spare. When people are attending a class having people violate their learning with childish behavior which is exactly what every one of these people were behaving like, immature children the whole lot of them. What Elizabeth and her group of people pulled today was unacceptable and she deserves to have all her garden privileges revoked after these disrespectful actions today. The most ironic part of all of these protesters is a lot of them had signs about bullying or hats and shirts about anti-bullying. These anti-bully protester’s are hypocrites. They literally spent an hour disrupting and bullying garden members that have nothing to do with Risse. a hour of our hour and a half class was spent being disrupted by this bullyish behavior. They repeatedly tried shouting down and bullying the lady teaching the class from NYCbeekeeping. Nobody from our group once was rude or yelled at these people and we all maintained our calm and even told them they were welcome to join the beekeeping class and we repeatedly told them this as well as asking them politely to stop disrupting our workshop. This whole Risse garden issue is childish and Elizabeth may not have been in the wrong in the beginning but after tonight’s demonstration she is definitely in the wrong now. Elizabeth if your reading this shame on you for bringing a crowd and bullying a group of people who have nothing to do with your petty drama or garden. You are very disrespectful and no one appreciated the massive amount of time you have wasted of ours. Your anti-bullying friends should learn to walk the talk of anti-bullying because i witnessed nothing but repeated bullying by you hypocrites all evening long at this bee workshop.
Sincerely,
Extremely pissed off community gardener’s from beekeeping introduction workshop
Mr Brown, let’s clarify a couple of mistake in your comment.
1. Elizabeth didn’t organize this protest, I can said it, because I was invited it by the organizers and for circumstance out of my control I couldn’t assist.
2. Elizabeth hasn’t done anything to deserve the way the members of the garden behaviour against her.
3. Green Tumb might be a good element, but obviously isn’t covering all the bases, going back to the beehive, this never was put into a consideration of the neighborhood, and is in public land, not in a donated lot, so should be presented it at the local Community Board before being build, I will say it again, is in Park land, Public land, like everyone else if you are using city resources or public land you MUST go through the process like everyone else, being this the reason of the protest, part of the community isn’t happy with a beehive in such a public space, like Reese Park, that is in the Green Way. Even that I like the idea I dislike this was done without the knowledge of no one. No even Parks.
3. The community garden members haven’t follow none of the rules and Green Tumb looked the other way and let them, and sorry to say, but when I asked the Green Tumb representative why didn’t come to the Commumity Board the answer was ” Because the Community Board doesn’t care”. And like you learned Tuesday, we care.
I’m a volunteer like you, I understand your frustration and anger, but, don’t put it in the wrong person. This workshop was done without the knowledge of the residents of the community. I should know, I’m very involved in Parks in this community. Again, sorry you waste your time. Hope is workshop in other community gardens.
Odd that I was personally targeted in a letter here from a total stranger to this community who I personally have never met. There’s so much misinformation in the message I wouldn’t know where to start .
The protest was organized by seniors and an anti-youth bullying organization in the Bronx
The protest of perhaps 25 people, mostly seniors, was held at RIsse Garden and associated with the issues reported in the front page Norwood News story
Their concerns I share They turned out that day to give a strong message to Green Thumb, the managing organization within parks that “oversees” RIsse Garden
The seniors protested against bullying of seniors and governance malfeasance at RIsse Garden. They are residents in the area including at Tracey Towers, RIsse Garden’s northern neighbor.
The Tracey Towers resident association president went on record at community board meetings last year expressing a range of concerns with the three newer projects at RIsse a BBQ, a beehive and a hole dug for a pond that still after a year and a half has not been completed. The concerns included questions of safety, proper project protocols and the absence of proper vetting of those three projects with the community including the Tracey Towers community, in their development stages
The day of the seniors’ protest, a beekeeping workshop for beekeepers and those who may wish to start a beehive in their Green Thumb gardens was scheduled by Green Thumb
The seniors chose that time deliberately so their message would be heard and carried home to Green Thumb officials and through gardeners who came from outside the area back to other Green Thumb gardens in NYC where similar issues to those at RIsse are in fact occurring as a result of governance dysfunction
Gardeners have suffered at RIsse and gardeners are suffering in some other Green Thumb gardens as a result of the fact there is no entity at this time overseeing enforcement of a garden’s own bylaws, no entity to which a gardener or member of the public may appeal to when a garden is out of compliance with its own bylaws or in violation of its own bylaws based governance. There is no insistence that gardens follow even the simplest form of Roberts Rules of Order that most organizations from PTA’s to community boards follow to function well, civilly and justly
Green Thumb’s stated policy written to me in email by the Director Bill LoSasso is a garden’s internal governance is not its responsibility. Green Thumb does not enforce bylaws compliance. Green Thumb will enforce compliance with the licensure agreements gardens sign with NYC Parks only
Internal governance matters. Internal governance in over 550 community gardens across NYC on NYC Parks land, under the Green Thumb umbrella desperately needs an oversight and enforcement entity established to support and enforce bylaws based decision making in the gardens
Such an entity or enforcement mechanism is needed to support open, just, well informed democratic decision making in the gardens. Such an entity must insist garden meetings are documented in minutes, that there are clean records of garden decisions, by whom, how and the research for and justification kept, archived and available for review.
This is absolutely essential so the garden groups may function above board and properly and be accountable to their own members, to the community in which the gardens sit and to the managing entities in NYC