Sunnyside gardeners fight for food pantry plots removed by Parks Department
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Parks Department workers destroyed an unauthorized garden in Sunnyside on Oct. 29. Image via Woodside Sunnyside Composting
By David Brand
A group of volunteer gardeners in Sunnyside are locked in a dispute with the Parks Department after city workers tore up unauthorized plots filled with veggies for local food pantries in late October.
For the past few months, members of the group Woodside Sunnyside Composting have grown vegetables alongside an unused park at the southeast corner of 39th Avenue and 50th Street. They have distributed the lettuce, Swiss chard and collared greens at a pantry run by Sunnyside & Woodside Mutual Aid, bolstering the harvest from a nearby community garden.
But on Oct. 29, the Parks Department tore up the beds and prohibited the volunteers from planting at the site. City officials said the nearby pavement was unsafe and told the group they could not plant on the strip of land along the perimeter of the former Phipps Sunnyside playground.
The Parks Department later told the Eagle that the soil is contaminated with lead and asbestos — a claim that came as news to the volunteers until a Parks official sent an email to a neighbor on Nov. 2.
“They did not communicate that to us,” said Benjamin Lucas, from Woodside Sunnyside Composting. “They said the location needed excavation without more details.”
Lucas said the city gave no warning before workers arrived to destroy the garden, which they cultivated to address food insecurity in the community. A member filmed workers removing the raised planting beds and dumping the soil, sparking an outcry among many local residents.
“We were doing this because of the pandemic. We heard how pantry lines were getting longer and longer and we were using the plots to grow food for the food pantry,” Lucas said.
He said his organization has already distributed more than 450 pounds of produce from a nearby community garden. They saw the need to expand their operation as lines stretch outside local food pantries, he said.
“I don’t think it’s wise not to continue,” he said. “The food is gone no matter how much is brought. Twenty to 30 pounds is gone in 25 minutes.”
So called “guerrilla gardens” have cropped out around Western Queens, including at another site in Sunnyside and outside the Queensbridge Houses
The city acquired the abandoned playground site in 2019 and renamed it after fallen firefighter Michael Davidson. The park is still closed because of safety and contamination concerns, the Parks Department said.
An agency spokesperson said the site “was breached, plantings were unauthorized and on property that has been found to be contaminated” with lead and asbestos. Parks does not alert groups when they remove unauthorized gardens, she said. Parks Department officials told the group on at least two occasions that they could not plant in the park, emails shows.
“We recognize the importance of public access to open space, especially in the midst of this pandemic, and encourage residents interested in community gardening to get involved in existing community gardens located in parks throughout the city,” the spokesperson said.
The volunteers from the Woodside Sunnyside Composting group aren’t satisfied with that response.
They already work with the Sunnyside Community Garden a block away and the land along the unused park could further help feed the community, Lucas said. They planted the vegetables in raised beds filled with compost soil, which means the roots won’t reach the contaminated dirt below, he added.
Community Board 2 member Amparo Abel-Bey questioned why the Parks Department waited to intervene if hazardous soil was such a concern. New signs around the perimeter of the closed park now warn against trespassing.
“It’s a little reactionary and not preventive,” Abel-Bey said. “The signage should have gone up about the toxicity of the soil and everyone would have been informed.”
She said the community board discussed the garden during a Thursday night meeting and plans to revisit the issue next month.
“What’s frustrating is seeing the community come together for something so positive and beautiful and seeing it destroyed before their eyes,” she said. “It’s disempowering and I would love for there to be more of an open dialogue and communication between the Parks Department, city agencies and community organizations.”
