Here's a head scratcher: in its ambition to meet the affordable housing goals of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has proposed the redevelopment of 15 community gardens on city-owned property.
"The city is looking to develop hundreds of vacant lots, including 15 community gardens, throughout the five boroughs into affordable housing," reports Rebecca on the Brownstoner blog. Brownstoner was one of the first publications to realize the impacts on the city's existing community gardens after the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) released a list of the publicly owned sites available for redevelopment through a request for qualifications from the New Infill Homeownership Opportunities Program (NIHOP) and Neighborhood Construction Program (NCP). The post also provides a list of each of the community gardens slated for redevelopment.
Amy Zimmer and Camille Bautista also picked up on the community garden angle of the de Blasio Administration's affordable housing plans in an article for DNAinfo. Their article includes soundbites from advocates concerned that affordable housing shouldn't have to come at the expense of community gardens. One resident of Morningside Heights shares an anecdote of already finding his local community garden padlocked by the city.
Read the full story: Closing Bell: City to Build Affordable Housing on 122 Vacant Lots and Community Gardens
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