Student Edition | Instructor Center | Home

Interactions Access Reading, 4/e

Pamela Hartmann, Los Angeles Unified School District
James Mentel, Los Angeles Unified School District

Our Planet

Read

Community Gardens

A When you hear the words New York, what do you think of? Tall buildings? Lights? Concrete? Traffic? Do you think of plants, gardens, and flowers? Well, thanks to community activists and a group called the Green Guerrillas, New York now has over 750 community gardens all over the city. The Green Guerrillas was founded in 1973 in order to turn empty lots (pieces of land) into vibrant community gardens. According to the Green Guerrillas' mission statement, "With our help, people grow food, plant flowers, educate youth, paint colorful murals, and preserve their gardens as vital community centers for future generations." For over 25 years now, the Green Guerrillas have worked with local communities and grassroots organizations—organizations made up of local people—to plant gardens, grow food, paint murals (large paintings), and educate the children in their neighborhoods. In fact, the Lower East Side, a neighborhood in Manhattan, has more green space than any urban neighborhood in Boston, Philadelphia, or Berlin.

B In the 1970s, New York had lots of crime. Much of the crime took place in vacant lots in middle- and low-income neighborhoods. Communities started planting gardens in order to take back their neighborhoods and push out crime. But how does a garden stop crime? Community gardens can prevent crime in many ways. First, they bring communities together to work on a common project, helping people from different backgrounds realize that they have similar goals. Second, gardens strengthen communities by providing a place for neighbors to gather and spend time together outdoors. This is especially helpful for populations who might not have the money to leave the city or travel to the country. Community gardens provide a number of additional benefits: safe havens for children, parents, and grandparents; food for needy families; increased property values; educational and environmental programs. Community gardens attest to the human ability to find solutions to problems in difficult situations. In this case, the solution is a beautiful and peaceful one.

C But not everybody sees the benefit of these gardens, and community gardens are in danger. Some politicians and developers see the gardens as potential places to construct buildings. Ironically, the mayor of New York and the city's Housing Preservation and Development Department has decided that the garden space is necessary for affordable housing—housing that is meant to serve the same communities the gardens do. Even though there are more than 14,000 other vacant lots across the city, the mayor and his constituency have already cleared many gardens in order to make space for buildings. But there is hope. Last year, the city arrested 31 protesters and bulldozed the "Jardin de la Esperanza" (Garden of Hope)—a 22-year-old garden in New York's Lower East Side—in order to build apartment buildings. The loss of the garden caused such bad publicity that the state of New York temporarily halted the city's planned development of hundreds of garden lots in order to reevaluate the situation.

D So what will the future of New York's community gardens be? Activists are still fighting to save as many gardens as they can. Recently, they saved New York's oldest community garden, the Liz Christy Garden on Houston Street, from real estate development. One member of the Green Guerrillas explained, "Community gardens and development don’t have to cancel each other out." Hopefully this is true, and the city, communities, and gardeners will continue to find a way to work together to save New York's precious green space.

Finding the Main Ideas


1	What is the main idea of the passage?
		A)	The city of New York is slowly destroying its gardens.
		B)	New York has many community gardens that help revitalize urban neighborhoods.
		C)	The Green Guerrillas work with communities to plant gardens in New York City.
		D)	Activists are fighting to save New York's community gardens.

2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.