City could lose nearly 100 community gardens over contract dispute
Roughly 100 community gardens on city-owned land are in danger of closing or relocating due to a new licensing agreement from the Parks Department that gardeners are calling unfair and overly onerous.
The contract, created by the agency’s GreenThumb program and signed every four years, has several new changes, including an updated liability policy, a limit on the number of fundraisers and a rigid approval process for all events. It also prohibits any payment or requests for donations during tours, a rule in both the previous and updated agreement.
The license, with both its new and old regulations, has made it unviable for some volunteer-run institutions to exist, according to Yemi Amu, founder and manager of Bushwick’s Oko Farms, the largest and only outdoor aquaponics facility in New York City.