Green Guerillas
Amid a financial crisis in the 1970s, several areas of New York City, like the Lower East Side of Manhattan, were particularly affected by disinvestment and saw an associated increase in abandoned buildings, some of which attracted crime.
Local resident Liz Christy co-founded a group called the Green Guerillas in the early 1970s, intent on transforming derelict lots into gardens.
[7][8] Christy worked for an architect-planner who considered turning a vacant lot at the corner of Houston Street and Bowery into a farm, restoring the purpose it served in colonial times, in celebration of the United States bicentennial.
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.
That year, they secured a $1 per month lease from the Office of Housing Preservation and Development under the name "Bowery Houston Community Farm and Garden".
[1] A 1974 New York Daily News 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".
[3][14][15] The organizational and 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.
[6] 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.
[15] In 1978, the city created an agency, Operation Green Thumb, dedicated to promoting and assisting with community-managed gardens and other projects utilizing open space.
[18] 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.
In response, the Guerillas produced materials focusing on the financial cost of such a sale, which would mean loss of a variety of community services, as well as the detrimental impact on quality of life in affected neighborhoods.
In the interim, entertainer Bette Midler purchased some of the lots and another lawsuit was filed by State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, arguing the intended auction was not legal under New York's environmental laws.
