Maple Street Community Garden

Maple Street Community Garden is a community garden in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is located on Maple Street between Jean-Jacques Dessalines Boulevard and Nostrand Avenue.

Maple Street Community Garden
TypeCommunity garden
Maple Street Community Garden

History

Maple Street Community Garden was founded on a vacant lot which formerly had an abandoned house that burned down in 1999. The garden was started by the Maple Street Block Association in 2012 with a $1,000 grant and later $4,800 from the City Council to clean the vacant lot. The lot was privately owned but the gardeners were unable to establish contact with the owners.[1]

In September 2014, a limited liability company (LLC) owned by the Makhani brothers claimed to own the lot and tried to evict the gardeners. The LLC furnished a deed which claimed it to have purchased the home from heirs of the original owners. It was later discovered that the brothers had a shady real estate business.[1] In July 2015, the gardeners were briefly barred from the site when the LLC acquired a restraining order.[2] On November 6, 2015, the Brooklyn Supreme Court dismissed the ownership claim of the LLC and ordered an independent legal guardian to find the heirs of the property.[3] In 2016, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and neighborhood Councilman Mathieu Eugene set aside a budget for 2017 to acquire the property for $1.25 million and transfer it to the Parks Department.[4] In 2017, the City Planning Commission approved the acquisition after going through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).[5][6]

In 2021, the garden launched its Fresh Food Box Program with GrowNYC. The garden plots are all gardened communally by members and any neighbor can help on harvest days.[7]

References
  1. Gibson, D. W. (2015-10-20). "How a Gentrification Scam Threatens New York's Community Gardens". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  2. "Brooklyn land grab threatens community gardens". am New York. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  3. Smith, Rachel Holliday (2015-11-13). "Deed for Disputed Maple Street Community Garden is 'Dubious,' Judge Says". DNAinfo New York. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  4. Tempey, Nathan (2016-09-22). "City Moves To Take Over Community Garden Threatened By Developers". Gothamist. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  5. "City Planning Approves Parks' Acquisition of Community Garden with Community Support". CityLand. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  6. "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NYC Department of Parks and Recreation's acquisition of resident-made Maple Street Community Garden is unanimously approved – 596 Acres". Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  7. Baron, Rachel Lindy (2020-06-05). "Maple Street Community Garden Launches Fresh Food Box Program". Bklyner. Retrieved 2021-05-27.

40°39′39″N 73°57′10″W

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