150:. She expressed in an interview that she found the lot depressing, recalling that "n the past few years I've seen three different men carried out of there dead, from alcohol or exposure or whatever. And children played in there with all that glass and filth." Though her employer died before work started, Christy went forward with the plan in 1973. She advertised a garden meeting, posting signs around the neighborhood in multiple languages, and recruited volunteers to both work on the space and to raise funds for equipment, supplies, fencing, and insurance. After the city denied the group permission to work on the project, they proceeded outside of official channels. Members of the community removed the accumulated trash, hauled in soil, and developed the space into lots for
101:, were particularly affected by disinvestment and saw an associated increase in abandoned buildings, some of which attracted crime. Many were demolished, and the number of vacant lots increased. Many remained abandoned for extended periods of time, either attracting garbage and vandalism or becoming fenced off and unavailable for use by communities. Local resident Liz Christy co-founded a group called the Green Guerillas in the early 1970s, intent on transforming derelict lots into gardens. Group members met on a regular basis to identify spaces, strategize, and discuss horticulture.
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support functions of the group grew considerably over the years, running workshops on pruning trees, cultivating wildflower meadows, rooftop gardening, and construction of a pond. In addition to teaching communities about plants, the Green
Guerillas taught how to design a garden, how to develop operational procedures, and how to interact with the city. They treated gardeners as neighborhood leaders and required every project to involve a local community for the long-term viability of the gardens, rather than a small number of individuals.
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116:. Guerillas would lob the grenades over fences, with the hope that, after shattering, the seeds would take root, introducing plants and flowers to an ugly lot. According to Malve von Hassell, the seed bombs had an important symbolic meaning relevant to the group name's inspiration by militant radicals. The grenades were thrown into abandoned spaces "to start a literal grassroots revolution", blurring the lines between plant, tool, and weapon.
219:, promoting the installation of window-hanging gardens and offering education on their construction, installation, and cultivation. In 1984, the Green Guerillas distributed a newsletter, worked with more than a hundred community groups, helped them to strategize and organize, provided information about plants and garden design, and donated tens of thousands of dollars in plants, according to the
245:
article described the organization's evolution since its early days: "Once, Green
Guerillas worked against the system, outsiders fighting layers of bureaucracy to green up some of the starkest of cityscapes. Now they work the system". The leases the city typically used for the gardens allowed them to
235:
garden. One of their major activities remained the collection and reuse of plants, securing donations of plants as well as bulbs, seeds, soil, pots, and tolls from farms, gardens, and other nonprofits and businesses in the region. The group would hold giveaway events from the Bowery–Houston Garden,
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In response to growing interest from other communities, the Green
Guerillas began developing informational materials for communities who wanted to do the same. They ran workshops, offered to survey sites, made recommendations, and sometimes secured donated plants and trees. The organizational and
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administration. As mayor, he prioritized the privatization and development of public land. In
January 1999 alone, 114 sites where gardens existed were put forward for auction. In response, the Guerillas produced materials focusing on the financial cost of such a sale, which would mean loss of a
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In 1986, the year after
Christy's death, the organization had 250 volunteers with an annual budget of around $ 82,000, which it received from donations, as well as from foundations, corporations, and state government. In addition to community gardens, the group assists senior centers, homeless
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article about the garden said that "they have not only brightened up the corner with flowers and greenery, but have also provided many low-income families in the area with their own fresh produce all summer". Christy was especially happy with the interest children showed in the garden.
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After working through the spring, they opened the first handful of plots for planting in May 1974. As work continued and interest grew, volunteers tried to convert as much of the space as possible into gardening plots. That year, they secured a $ 1 per month lease from the
65:. The resulting press coverage and word of mouth led the group to broaden its activities from active gardening to education, training, and support for a number of community groups working on their own gardens. The Green Guerillas have been credited with beginning the
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Though communities did not always secure the necessary permissions and paperwork, the city benefitted from the Green
Guerillas and other community gardening projects as no-cost revitalization. In 1978, the city created an agency,
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282:, arguing the intended auction was not legal under New York's environmental laws. That case, which ended in September 2002, resulted in the preservation of about 500 gardens and plans to turn other lots into housing.
207:, dedicated to promoting and assisting with community-managed gardens and other projects utilizing open space. Among its activities is helping to secure leases for vacant land. That program, which was moved into the
53:" into derelict lots and developed community gardens, often without going through official channels. It became especially popular after the concerted redevelopment of a dangerous, trash-filled space at the corner of
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In 1983, Green
Guerillas logged 13,400 volunteer hours and had a budget of more than $ 40,000, which largely went to its two paid staff members, an executive director and her assistant. They ran a contest for
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notifying community gardens in the area that resources will be available for pick-up. As of 1991, 450 of the approximately 700 community gardens in the city were affiliated with the Green
Guerillas.
320:, showing that "it is possible for communities to see and understand their own needs, as well as develop the expertise necessary for at least some kinds of ecological restoration projects".
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Helping communities work with city agencies to secure leases and otherwise ensure the persistence of the gardens has long been an important part of the Green
Guerillas' activities. A 1991
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article about the group in 1976 reported that they received $ 356 in donations in their first three years, with $ 3,500 in expenses, paid out of volunteers' pockets.
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and multiple community boards, the
Guerillas filed a lawsuit against the Giuliani administration for failing to undergo required state reviews under the
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be removed at any time, with thirty days' notice, and ninety gardens were destroyed in the city between 1984 and 1999. Most of those were under the
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variety of community services, as well as the detrimental impact on quality of life in affected neighborhoods. Along with three members of the
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after her death in 1985. The Green Guerillas went on to turn other derelict lots into gardens, working on 16 spaces in 1974 and 84 in 1975. A
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1062:"The Green Guerillas: When does gardening in the city become a guerilla activity? When you have to tie down your shrubs with barbed wire"
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reclamation of abandoned, derelict lots for gardens proved a popular concept. The Green Guerillas have been credited with beginning the
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shelters, schools, and other organizations. For example, they worked with homeless men at the Charles H. Gay Shelter on
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Responding to the tendency of many lots to be fenced off, the group became known for their use of what they called "
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477:"Neighborhood Report: East Village; Friends of a Celebrated Garden Don't View a Pathway as Progress"
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From the ground up: community gardens in New York City and the politics of spatial transformation
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Christy worked for an architect-planner who considered turning a vacant lot at the corner of
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Bowery Houston Community Farm and Garden, renamed the Liz Christy Garden in 1985, in 2012
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into a farm, restoring the purpose it served in colonial times, in celebration of the
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387:"From the Ground Up: Why Urban Ecological Restoration Needs Environmental Justice"
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A 1973 Green Guerillas flyer with instructions on how to create "seed grenades"
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under the name "Bowery Houston Community Farm and Garden". A 1974
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Avant gardening: ecological struggle in the city & the world
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1243:"Ending a Long Battle, New York Lets Housing and Gardens Grow"
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45:, and planners who work to turn abandoned or empty spaces in
306:, which became an international practice. In an article for
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purchased some of the lots and another lawsuit was filed by
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1107:"Community Gardens and Politics of Scale in New York City"
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The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City
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636:"Digging, Sowing, Tending, Harvesting (Making War-Fair)"
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1203:"City in Talks to End Lawsuit Over Community Gardens"
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Smith, Christopher M.; Kurtz, Hilda E. (April 2003).
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Wilson, Peter Lamborn; Weinberg, Bill, eds. (1999).
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into gardens. Formed in the 1970s, the group threw "
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517:"Pimp the Pavement: A Brief History of Seedbombing"
180:and remains active as of 2021, and was renamed the
1382:Environmental organizations based in New York City
749:"Making New York Green Involves Reams of Red Tape"
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1201:Raver, Anne; Steinhauer, Jennifer (2002-04-26).
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352:New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
209:New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
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599:. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan.
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444:"Helping New York; Gardeners Dig and Create"
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93:, several areas of New York City, like the
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347:"History of the Community Garden Movement"
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1281:Zeitlin, Steven J. (November 25, 2006).
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120:Bowery Houston Community Farm and Garden
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908:from the original on September 12, 2015
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842:"Time to Plant and Harvest in New York"
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16:Guerilla gardening group from the 1970s
1387:Environmental justice in New York City
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680:"Garden on the Bowery Is a Real Tonic"
678:Mifflin, Lawrie (September 22, 1974).
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442:Carmody, Deirdre (February 24, 1976).
261:State Environmental Quality Review Act
1060:Roach, Margaret (September 3, 1991).
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986:"A Citywide Contest for Window Boxes"
840:Teltsch, Kathleen (October 5, 1986).
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559:"The Optimism of the Green Guerillas"
271:in 2002. In the interim, entertainer
211:in 1995, is still active as of 2021.
176:in New York City, grew to be over an
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1372:Organizations based in New York City
1362:Community gardening in New York City
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888:"The green grass of – New York City"
716:"Green Guerillas fight urban blight"
714:Juergens, Jennifer (July 30, 1984).
456:from the original on August 30, 2021
1241:Steinhauer, Jennifer (2002-09-19).
1166:"City Sued as Sign of Flower Power"
1018:"A Patch of Green for Homeless Men"
728:from the original on August 1, 2021
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497:from the original on April 26, 2019
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1125:10.1111/j.1931-0846.2003.tb00029.x
886:Hoffman, Marilyn (April 9, 1985).
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747:Evans, Olive (April 15, 1975).
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613:from the original on 2021-08-30
575:from the original on 2021-06-26
411:from the original on 2021-08-30
194:Growth and community organizing
1345:about the Green Guerillas and
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557:Earnest, Barbara Reed (1989).
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294:was not a new phenomenon, the
263:. The suit persisted into the
1:
797:. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia.
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302:and popularizing the idea of
91:financial crisis in the 1970s
69:and popularizing the idea of
984:Yang, Linda (June 2, 1983).
7:
736:– via Newspapers.com.
700:– via Newspapers.com.
593:von Hassell, Malve (2002).
475:Lee, Denny (Jun 10, 2001).
25:Logo of the Green Guerillas
10:
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148:United States bicentennial
123:
934:Eizenberg, Efrat (2016).
893:Christian Science Monitor
385:Palamar, Colette (2010).
300:community garden movement
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222:Christian Science Monitor
67:community garden movement
33:are a community group of
1289:Rutgers University Press
267:and was rejected by the
265:Bloomberg administration
1086:(subscription required)
110:Christmas tree ornament
405:10.3167/nc.2010.050304
314:ecological restoration
277:State Attorney General
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1190:– via ProQuest.
1046:– via ProQuest.
634:Badger, Gina (2013).
418:– via ProQuest.
318:environmental justice
253:New York City Council
205:Operation Green Thumb
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1397:Guerrilla gardening
1112:Geographical Review
685:New York Daily News
269:State Supreme Court
165:New York Daily News
1248:The New York Times
1208:The New York Times
1154:– via JSTOR.
1023:The New York Times
991:The New York Times
847:The New York Times
754:The New York Times
721:South Bend Tribune
525:. April 12, 2013.
482:The New York Times
449:The New York Times
392:Nature and Culture
309:Nature and Culture
304:guerilla gardening
182:Liz Christy Garden
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126:Liz Christy Garden
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71:guerilla gardening
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1298:978-0-8135-3890-7
1084:Link and archive
951:978-1-315-58356-3
152:vegetable gardens
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