Re: 6th Street & Avenue B Garden responds

**A*@aol.com**

C'mon....... 

We all have insurance problems in our NYC gardens.

 But if you keep your garden safe and tidy, and don't leave crap all over the 
place for people to trip over,  and think of yourselves as a public venue, 
one that's open more than 10 hours a week,  for a neighborhood that's open 24/7, 
you'll be fulfilling your mission better. 

Honest injun - we've been doing this since 1978. 

And justifying your existance on a rather valuable piece of NYC real estate. 
You've been saved - and we all worked for that.  Now think of how you can 
serve the entire neighborhood, instead of just yourselves. 

Please address how any  garden member could think of saying, "when we're 
closed, we're closed," to anyone!  Especially when gardeners all over the city 
pulled for 6th & B, and cashed markers for you to survive, despite yourselves, 
and your "when we're closed, we're closed attitude,".

You could start with a sign, like we have at the Clinton Community Garden 
that says," If you want to visit our garden when the gate is closed and a 
gardener is inside, please ask to be let in. " And this in a neighborhood with clubs, 
a growing crystal meth problem, homeless folks who are always with us, some 
of the most unsavory whores in the city.

Also, we have three social service institutions on our block, Fountain House 
for schizophrenics, on for adolescents with HIV, and Project Return for 
formerly homeless people with psychological/drug problems. And we serve all three 
groups, who have keys to our garden as well. 

If you can stand going above 14th Street, we'd be delighted to show you how a 
community garden can serve 5,000 keyholders, in a catchment area that has 
90,000 people, on less square footage than your garden, playing by the same New 
York City rules that you do. If you want to see how it's done, in a neighorhood 
with rampant drugs, prostitution, with all the multi-ethnicities of the Lower 
East Side, please come up any time. Don't worry, if there's someone inside 
the garden, we'll be sure to let you in. 

With a smile and a welcome.  

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