Gardens Rally Scrapped After City Extends License Deadline

EAST VILLAGE, NY — Community garden groups canceled an expected Monday morning rally upon news the city would extend the deadline to sign changes to rules that have sparked outrage.

Community gardens' custodians were gearing up to fight against new Parks Department rules they feared would threaten the future of the neighborhood oases.

But Saturday morning, the city entity that oversees the gardens, GreenThumb, told gardeners the new deadline to file re-licensing documents had been extended to September 20, according to an email sent to garden representatives.

Charles Krezel, the head of the advocate group Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens, announced Saturday the rally was scrapped.

"We are very happy that GreenThumb has extended the license agreement deadline to September 20," Krezell said in a statement.

"In light of the new deadline we are canceling the Rally scheduled for Monday at City Hall. We are very grateful for the vigorous support of our community gardeners. We continue to recognize that our strength is in unity; and our goal is to continue to help New York grow," Krezell said.

Parks Department spokesperson Dan Kastanis confirmed the new Sept. 20 deadline, saying it would "give garden groups additional time to finalize their by-laws internally."

But Krezell saw the deadline extension as a chance to further negotiate the license — which LUNGS and other groups say are too restrictive and difficult to follow for volunteers.

"We hope to continue negotiating in good faith. We all love our gardens and want to continue to have a good relationship with GreenThumb and the Parks Department," said Krezell.

LUNGS has requested meetings with the department, according to Krezell.

In addition to the deadline extension GreenThumb announced Saturday, the city planned to make updates to the handbook for garden operations regarding pet access, site inspections, weekly produce pick-up programs, events and how the city would define "garden abandonment," the Parks' announcement to garden reps said.

Read more about community garden license changes in Patch's previous coverage here.