Hello Neighbors and Gardeners! 

Myrtle Village Green community garden was recently informed that the City of New York is preparing to develop our garden into housing.

We need your help to save the garden and preserve green space in this neighborhood. You can help in the following ways…

can do now

What you

You can use your own words, your own language, and say whatever is most important to you. And if you would like some talking points, here are a few:

  • Green space is essential for thriving neighborhoods, and Myrtle Village Green has been successfully operating one of NYC’s largest community gardens for over a decade. 

  • This garden has over 250 members, representing the cultural and economic diversity of our neighborhood. Everyone is welcome here, and demand for the garden only increases year after year.

  • We grow over 2500 pounds of food annually and compost 70,000 pounds of food waste each year. Food costs are rising, compost options in NYC are shrinking–MVG is needed now more than ever. 

  • We provide critical access to nature in a neighborhood with no grassy parks or public green space for many blocks in every direction. 

  • We are asking Lincoln Restler to advocate for MVG to continue, uninterrupted as a community garden and neighborhood green space. 

If you have any questions or need help reaching out, I can help! We can write a message together if you would like. I can mail a letter for you or coach you through calling. Whatever you need. 

Please don’t wait and put this off until next week–the urgency is very real and MVG needs your help today. 

Please contact our City Council Member, Lincoln Restler, to let him know how important Myrtle Village Green is to this community. He needs to hear from as many people as possible this week.

You can call

Restler’s office at 718-875-5200. 

You can email

Restler’s office at District33@council.nyc.gov and his Chief of Staff, Molly Haley, at mhaley@council.nyc.gov 

Paper mail can be addressed to: 

Honorable Lincoln Restler 
410 Atlantic Avenue 
Brooklyn, NY 11217 

You can even stop by this same address to speak with someone in person between 9-5 M-F. 

If you want a little more back story, here is more background:

MVG is on a plot of land owned by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and they have decided to transfer this land to the City’s Housing Department so a developer can build housing here. This is a multi-year process. Nothing is happening immediately but this process will involve boring test holes in the garden at some point in the next year (likely), causing significant destruction, and will ultimately involve MVG as we currently know it being wholly or largely bulldozed over. 

Originally the land MVG is on (Parcel C) plus the parcel on Kent Ave that connects to it (Parcel B) were promised to the community as green space. Plans were made in 2002 for transferring all of the land to Parks Department but this never happened. Renewed organizing from this community in 2010 resulted in the victory of opening our current garden plot in 2012 and we have been thriving here ever since! We have asked 2-3 times every year for over a decade for the Kent Ave plot to be opened for us as well but have been rejected each time. 

On November 16th we had an emergency meeting with the DEP where they announced that transfer of the land to Housing was happening. We subsequently had an in person meeting at the garden with 3 garden members and people from DEP where more information was gained. Following this we sent a letter to multiple city agencies and elected officials. I have attached this letter below for you to read if you would like. The day after this letter was sent we got a 2 year (revocable with 30 days notice) renewal of our lease agreement. This was our first ask and it has been secured. 

On Monday morning a half dozen gardeners met with people from the DEP, Parks, and Housing to discuss their plans and our needs. Among our requests is opening Parcel B for MVG. Doing so now would allow us to begin a slow process of moving into that space to minimize disruption. We would like to preserve as much of our current space (Parcel C) as a green space for this community. There are significant improvements that need to be made to Parcel B (including access to water which it currently lacks–DEP suggested rain barrels which is entirely unsustainable). This is going to be a long negotiation and we need everyone’s help to continue pushing. 

We have not been informed of when but there will be another meeting in 1-2 weeks, this time including Lincoln Restler, the City Council Member for MVG. It is imperative that he hear from as many folks as possible about the importance of this garden. Thank you!