| From: | Emery Graham <"egraham"@ci.wilmington.de.us> |
| Date: | Fri, 21 May 1999 09:25:32 -0700 (PDT) |
| Reply: | cpeo-brownfields |
| Subject: | Re: "The Economic Benefits of Open Space" |
Tony, I think my perspective is captured in this quote from the article, "The gardens are as diverse as the gardeners, capturing neighborhood character. One in Queens was photographed recently for National Geographic; another in Harlem looks to yield vegetables this summer for meals at soup kitchens. The more I get into actually trying to reclaim brownfields and integrate development objectives, the more the resistance arises around who gets what. Unless For's children take over her home or rent her apartment, Harlem will quickly complete its current conversion from a traditionally African American enclave to a newly gentrified area. The game the same it's just a new generation of the "white skinned privileged" who are acting to claim their inheritance and exercise the benefits of their parent's and grandparent's positions of "power over" others and "power to" frame the decision arena for the powerless. Emery Tony Chenhansa wrote: > Emery, Peter > > This isn't really a response to your recent posting but I think it was > fate that I came across this 5/14/99 Associated Press article today. > I'll see if Bette Midler wants to chime in on the "Open Space" > discussion. ;-) > > Tony C. > > For the complete article go to: > http://www.msnbc.com/news/269420.asp > > And for other similar articles > http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/ap_us/story.html?s=v/ap/19990515/us/ gardens_grow_1.html > > "NY Gardens saved by Singer" > > (Summary) > > "NEW YORK, May 14 — For two decades, 78-year-old Olean For has toiled > in a vacant lot in her neighborhood, turning the once garbage-strewn > area into a lush garden in the midst of New York City’s concrete. For’s > little lot became one of 115 community gardens located in mostly > low-income neighborhoods, former eyesores that had become eye-catchers > with explosions of pansies, roses and vegetables…" > > The gardens, which are highly sought after by developers, were almost > "extinct" when the City held an auction last Wednesday. Fortunately, the > winning bid came from Bette Midler and the Trust for Public Land. > Midler's group New York Restoration Project and TPL raised $4 million to > buy all the gardens. > > The community gardens were established 25 years ago by residents who > were tired of the "trash strewn lots and illegal dumping grounds." The > city wanted to cash in on the real estate boom and get the property back > on the "tax rolls" One of the gardens in Queens was photographed in > National Geographic and another Harlem garden hopes to provide summer > vegetables for soup kitchens. > > -- > > [EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: CPEO'S PHONE NUMBER HAS CHANGED > TO 415-405-7751. OUR FAX NUMBER IS STILL THE SAME] > > Tony Chenhansa, Program Coordinator > Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO) > 425 Market Street 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 > ph: 415-405-7751 fx: 415-904-7765 > e-mail: tonyc@cpeo.org > http://www.cpeo.org > > A program of the San Francisco Urban Institute --------------D97A989212A003A7399FC4A0 Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit <HTML> Tony, <BR>I think my perspective is captured in this quote from the article, <P> & nbsp; "The gardens are as diverse as the gardeners, capturing <BR> neighborhood character. <B>One in <I>Queens</I> was <U>photographed</U></B> <BR><U> &nb sp; & nbsp; <B>recently for National Geographic</B></U><B>; another in <I>Harlem</I> looks to</B> <BR><B> &nb sp; <U>yield vegetables this summer for meals at soup kitchens.</U></B> <P>The more I get into actually trying to reclaim brownfields and integrate development objectives, the more the resistance arises around who gets what. Unless For's children take over her home or rent her apartment, Harlem will quickly complete its current conversion from a traditionally African American enclave to a newly gentrified area. The game the same it's just a new generation of the "white skinned privileged" who are acting to claim their inheritance and exercise the benefits of their parent's and grandparent's positions of "power over" others and "power to" frame the decision arena for the powerless. <P>Emery <BR>Tony Chenhansa wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>Emery, Peter <P>This isn't really a response to your recent posting but I think it was <BR>fate that I came across this 5/14/99 Associated Press article today. <BR>I'll see if Bette Midler wants to chime in on the "Open Space" <BR>discussion. ;-) <P>Tony C. <P>For the complete article go to: <BR><A HREF="http://www.msnbc.com/news/269420.asp">http://www.msnbc.com/news/269420 .asp</A> <P>And for other similar articles <BR><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/ap_us/story.html?s=v/ap/199905 15/us/gardens_grow_1.html">http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/ap_us/sto ry.html?s=v/ap/19990515/us/gardens_grow_1.html</A> <P>"NY Gardens saved by Singer" <P>(Summary) <P>"NEW YORK, May 14 — For two decades, 78-year-old Olean For has toiled <BR>in a vacant lot in her neighborhood, turning the once garbage-strewn <BR>area into a lush garden in the midst of New York City’s concrete. For’s <BR>little lot became one of 115 community gardens located in mostly <BR>low-income neighborhoods, former eyesores that had become eye-catchers <BR>with explosions of pansies, roses and vegetables…" <P>The gardens, which are highly sought after by developers, were almost <BR>"extinct" when the City held an auction last Wednesday. Fortunately, the <BR>winning bid came from Bette Midler and the Trust for Public Land. <BR>Midler's group New York Restoration Project and TPL raised $4 million to <BR>buy all the gardens. <P>The community gardens were established 25 years ago by residents who <BR>were tired of the "trash strewn lots and illegal dumping grounds." The <BR>city wanted to cash in on the real estate boom and get the property back <BR>on the "tax rolls" One of the gardens in Queens was photographed in <BR>National Geographic and another Harlem garden hopes to provide summer <BR>vegetables for soup kitchens. <P>-- <P>[EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: CPEO'S PHONE NUMBER HAS CHANGED <BR>TO 415-405-7751. OUR FAX NUMBER IS STILL THE SAME] <P>Tony Chenhansa, Program Coordinator <BR>Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO) <BR>425 Market Street 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 <BR>ph: 415-405-7751 fx: 415-904-7765 <BR>e-mail: tonyc@cpeo.org <BR><A HREF="http://www.cpeo.org">http://www.cpeo.org</A> <P>A program of the San Francisco Urban Institute</BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML> --------------D97A989212A003A7399FC4A0-- | |
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