If you care about food issues in NYC, here's your chance to get involved!
Join us at two important City Council Hearings on food justice issues...today and tomorrow!
June 23rd Hearing on Food Access Disparities, 1pm
Today at 1pm the NYC Council's Committee on Community Development will be holding an oversight hearing on the topic "Access to Fresh Food in NYC Neighborhoods and Associated Health, Economic, and Community Impacts". The hearing will be held on the 16th Floor Hearing Room at 250 Broadway.
Local groups have prepared testimonies to present at the hearing, and written testimony is also being accepted. Come, listen, engage!
Buzzzzzzz: Come a little early and attend the Pollinator Week press conference, 12:30pm at City Halls steps and hear Council Member David Yassky, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and representatives from Just Food, East New York Farms and local beekeepers give support to legislation that will legalize beekeeping in NYC!
June 24th Hearing on Community Gardens, 10am
Action Alert from the NYC Community Gardens Coalition:
JOIN US AT CITY HALL WEDNESDAY JUNE 24 @ 10AM
FOR AN IMPORTANT CITY COUNCIL HEARING ON THE FUTURE OF OUR GARDENS!
We urgently need all gardeners and garden supporters to bring your voices and letters of concern to a public hearing sponsored by City Council's Committee on Parks and Recreation at City Hall and speak up for the preservation of all community gardens! We need as many people as possible to attend to prove our political (voting) power - so bring friends and forward this message far and wide!
If you are a Parks or a city-operated GreenThumb community garden and think you are safe, THINK AGAIN! Your garden is not safe, as the Attorney General's agreement that saved us in 2002 is set to expire in 2010 with NO OTHER legislation in place to protect us!
The hearing will focus on the future of community gardens in NYC and specifically Resolution #1890, which calls upon the City to map all GreenThumb community gardens in NYC as parkland, thereby giving them stronger protection for the future!
NYC City Council Hearing on Community Gardens
Wednesday June 24th @ 10:00am
Committee Room @ City Hall
City Hall is located in City Hall Park. You can enter the plaza from either the west side of the park at Broadway and Murray Street or the east side at Park Row.By Subway: #4, #5, #6 trains to City Hall/Brooklyn Bridge; #2, #3 trains to Park Place; W, R trains to City Hall; C, A trains to Chambers Street By Bus: M15 to City Hall/Park Row
Please bring: ID to enter City Hall and 20 copies (double-sided) of your prepared testimony as to why your garden - and all gardens - should be made permanent (if you need help to make copies, please call us - the most important thing is for you to BE THERE!).
Also bring: Youth from your garden (now that school is out - their stories are very powerful), your garden's scrapbook, pictures, and banners. Our representatives need to understand the deep importance of the community gardens.
If you cannot make the meeting, but want to submit testimony, you can mail or fax it by June 24th to:
Gary Altman, Legislative Council
Council of the City of New York
250 Broadway 15th Floor, New York NY 10007
Att: Community Gardens Hearing - June 24, 2009
Fax: (212) 442-6420 (Attn: Gary Altman)
For more information: See our website for our recommendations to protect our gardens, links to Resolution 1890, the Attorney General's agreement, and more. If you have any questions, call us at 888-311-3993.
New York City Community Gardens Coalition - United We Grow! The mission of the New York City Community Gardens Coalition is to promote the preservation, creation and empowerment of community gardens through education, advocacy and grass-roots organizing.
Thank you for all you do in advocating for healthier food, farms and communities in New York!
Warm wishes,
Nadia Johnson
Just Food
