BROOKLYN ALLIANCE OF NEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS LAND TRUST
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Brooklyn Alliance of Neighborhood Gardens (BANG) Land Trust is to conserve, create, and empower community-managed Greenspaces through education, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. More broadly, we aim to become a facilitator of land conservation. We will build an organization with the capacity and resources to achieve this mission. Toward this end we will advocate with government and community partners to support our work. We will pursue our core mission through the creation of a community of Greenspaces. The community will be united through communication, outreach, events, and the sharing of successful stewardship practices. The Greenspace community will provide and promote environmental education and cultural programing to members and their communities. Our mission is guided by a set of core values: • We believe that neighborhood rejuvenation, environmental justice, food security, and civic participation are strengthened when community members have access to land held in trust. • We value eco-friendly, sustainable growing and living practices as essential to our role in the restoration and preservation of our urban ecosystem. We believe in the benefits of organic horticultural and agricultural methods. We encourage the appropriate use of passive technology and a reliance on renewable resources to nurture peaceful, harmonious, healthy and sustainable environments. • We believe that when people work together to re-connect with the land, communities grow strong, hopeful, confident and healthy. • We value the autonomy of each member Greenspace to create an environment that best serves their communities. We seek operating and self-governance structures and processes that are guided by transparency, honesty, diversity, mutual respect, openness, on-going evaluation, celebration, and a commitment to Member participation. • We value learning through gardening and community participation, a process rooted in observation, reflection, and action, that deepens our understanding of the communities in which we live, work and play. • We value collaboration with community members and partner organizations to nurture healthy, powerful communities.
About This Cause
BROOKLYN ALLIANCE OF NEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS LAND TRUST (BANG) was incorporated in 2011 under the New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation Law. BANG comprises five community gardens (Greenspaces) in Brooklyn New York: Brooklyn Bear’s Pacific Street Community Garden, GreenSpace @ President Street, 6/15 Green, Warren St. Marks Community Garden, and Prospect Heights Community Farm. The relationship between BANG and the member gardens is codified in a Partnership Agreement. The member gardens agree to use and maintain the garden as green space for the benefit of the public, open the garden a minimum number of hours weekly, and work with BANG to fundraise, and comply with legal and insurance requirements. In turn, BANG provides legal and financial support for the work of the individual gardens, and facilitates the sharing of best practices across gardens through, for example, the Operations Committee and Finance Committee. Specifically, BANG ensures that all real estate taxes are paid or exempted; provides liability insurance for the gardens at BANG's expense; provides annual monitoring and management of watering systems; offers arbitration and mediation to solve problems arising within member gardens; and maintains relationships with political and community groups to further BANG’s mission. BANG’s organizational structure and core legal obligations are set out in the Bylaws. The BANG Board of Directors comprises one representative and one alternate from each garden. The governing structure is drawn from these Board members and includes a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. BANG meets 4-6 times a year, including an annual meeting in March. All meetings are open to members of the member gardens and the public, and minutes are kept. The five BANG gardens have a long history in Brooklyn, dating back to the 1970’s and 1980’s when there was an active network of community gardens in New York. As the politics and economy of New York changed the gardens were subject to significant pressures from encroaching development. Being a part of the BANG Land Trust ensures a crucial measure of stability and support as gentrification continues to overtake many Brooklyn neighborhoods. The best way to understand the activities of BANG is to understand the activities of each garden. Within the parameters of the Partnership Agreement, the five member gardens are independently operated and organized to meet the needs of their members and the surrounding community. A brief description of the gardens and their activities follows. More importantly, a link is provided to each garden website/Facebook page which provides a complete description of garden activities, policies and practices. 6/15 Green is the largest green space in the BANG Land Trust. From five pioneering gardeners in 1994, the garden grew to become an incorporated organization with over 100 members, composters, and supporters. 6/15 Green boasts vegetable plots, communal herbs, community composting, and a large gathering space surrounded by ornamentals and a towering willow tree. https://www.615green.org/ GreenSpace @ President Street was founded in the late 1970’s. It is the smallest GreenSpace in the BANG Land Trust but is open to the public more than any other through a unique relationship with the local BID. Bistro tables and chairs are available and can easily be moved around to provides seating for relaxation, meetings, picnics, and a summer movie series. A colorful mural graces the wall at the lower end of the garden. It is an oasis amid the hustle and bustle of a reemerging 5th Avenue. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079344794792 The Brooklyn Bear’s Pacific Street Community Garden was founded in 1985 at a time when the City had all but abandoned this corner of Brooklyn. Neighbors took matters into their own hands with a beautification project that has endured for over 25 years including several significant changes as the surrounding neighborhood gentrified. Bears has tended the current garden since 1999. They were also active in assisting in the development of other community gardens that are part of NYC Parks Department. At Bear’s gardeners tend vegetable beds, flower areas, a water garden, and work an active compost system, sit and enjoy the beauty, or join one of the many workdays or BBQs. https://brooklynbears.wordpress.com/ The Prospect Heights Community Farm has a long history in the community dating to the mid1990s. The garden has been tended by different groups and joined the BANG Land Trust in 2012. Today, the Farm has almost 100 members. They garden in both individual and communal spaces, maintain a compost program that processes hundreds of pounds of food scraps weekly, manage a water harvesting system to collect rainwater from the adjacent building, and offer 20 hours of Open Hours when the garden is open to the community. https://www.phcfarm.com/ The Warren St. Marks Community Garden dates to the early 1980s and eventually several smaller gardens on the site were joined to create a single block-through garden. The garden has well over 100 members, a generous gathering space and large vegetable boxes joined by a serpentine path. The garden hosts numerous community events, including block association gatherings, movie nights, community barbecues, and activities for children. A true highlight of the garden is the 20+ chickens. https://wsgarden.org/?fbclid=IwAR1cOxdEgthWWWb3bMRmp6KBHwFzuqnIOvpO8PO6Lq28j4xCyK5vUfkgLnA