Re: NYC ACGA Garden Tours

L* L*

Judy,
Bless you for getting beyond the conspiracy against Clinton Community Garden Theory which I am sure that Adam did 
not mean to insinuate and I hope that the others who have weighed in on this issue will not feel is the case. Clinton is a 
fine example of one model of what a community garden can be. There are many others. At least 750 in NYC.
Much of what Judy said was the thinking behind which gardens will be on the tours, ie: gardens in the Bronx and 
Brooklyn which are harder to get to and in neighborhoods that visitors to New York City NEVER! see. There will also be 
workshops offered at one of the sites that each tour will visit. All of this took lots of planning and an attempt was made to 
offer a wide variety of tours and workshops.
Clinton happens to be in Midtown Manhattan, close to the theatre district and Times square, shopping etc. It is also one 
of very few gardens in the area, in an area where you could be stuck in traffic on a bus just going a few blocks and 2 
stops on the express train from Columbia University where the conference will be held. People could visit at any time 
before, during, or after the conference. If people would rather see Clinton and midtown during the designated tour time 
they are welcome to do that. No one is being forced to do anything against their will. Adam or one of his gardeners could 
meet you and show you the Clinton Community garden. Adam will also be leading a workshop in a 2 hour time slot Friday 
from 2:15 - 4:15 with one other presenter. Adam's part of the workshop will be 1 hour and will focus on Clinton.
As far as maps of where the gardens are, NYC has a map based website that shows all of the community gardens. You 
can search for gardens by name, neighborhood, zip code, borough or key word. Each garden has a page with 
additional information, some have photos and some have links to the garden's website, if they have one. You can also 
print out maps that are formatted fo  8 1/2 X 11 inches. Visit at:
http://www.cmap.nypirg.org/CENYC/cenycmapsearch.asp?view=default
There will be a computer terminal set up at the conference for folks to look up gardens on this web site.
I am working on producing some kind of handout map or maps, which is a difficult task because of the large number of 
gardens and the large area that they are spread across.
I hope to see you all here.
Lenny

4/17/02 3:41:20 PM, Grow19@aol.com wrote:

>Who knows what the reasons are.  There are SO, SO many gardens in NY and they 
>may have any # of ideas.
>
>My recommendations:
>1.For gardens like Clinton, it is very very easy for you to go visit, perhaps 
>not to get inside if there aren't open hours, but to find, to feel 
>comfortable in the neighborhood, etc.  Perhaps is would be helpful for ACGA 
>to make available a written directory (quite the formidible task in itself) 
>of gardens that people can visit on their own.
>
>2.It would be good for the tours to be sure to include gardens that are 
>interesting and valuable to see and are either hard to get to or are in 
>neighborhoods that are less likely for people to go to on their own -- either 
>because they are far flung or a bit scary (i know this is completely 
>dependent on what you are used to, but face it, some parts of NY are less 
>comfortable for 'tourists' than others)
>
>3.I would suggest that ACGA include in the 'directory' the public gardens -- 
>all of them -- and leave all of them off the tours.  Over the years, I have 
>been most intersted in seeing gardens that demonstrate the involvement of 
>neighborhood people, that demonstrate interesting structures and garden art 
>(so much of this in NY!), that solve problems, that are multi-ethnic, etc.  
>In the same way, I have really disappointed with tours that have taken up 
>time at 'the lovely local botanic garden' that I could easily find in a 
>tourist guide and go to on my own.  I take the tours to help me with my work.
>
>4.Given the likelihood that lots of people attending the NY conference are 
>going to be eager to see lots of gardens, perhaps various local folks could 
>stand hosting additional post-conference tours over several days.  Easy for 
>me to say - I won't be an exhausted New Yorker who just survived running a 
>conference.  As a visitor, I would likely gladly sign up for tours of gardens 
>for a whole week!  Gardens in NY are really really inspirational.  I'd even 
>pay for these tours.  
>
>Judy Tiger
>Washington DC  
>
>
>______________________________________________________
>The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To 
learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
>
>
>To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden@mallorn.com
>
>To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:  
https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
>

______________________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden@mallorn.com

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:  https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden