Received today from Larry Scott Blackmon, Deputy Commissioner for Community Outreach:
Hello Gardeners, and Happy Spring!
In the year that I have been at Parks, I have had the opportunity to get to know many of you and listened to your concerns. One thing I heard frequently was that you wanted your contributions recognized as an integral part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative.
On Thursday, April 21, Mayor Bloomberg presented an update to PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York. At this launch, facilitating urban agriculture opportunities and community gardening were listed among its top three initiatives going forward. Specific milestones to be completed by 2013 include:
- Increasing the number of volunteer gardeners registered with GreenThumb by 25%.
- Launching a multi-agency study to identify City-owned properties suitable for urban agriculture.
- Creating five additional farmers markets at community gardens and,
- Increasing the number of registered school based gardens to 150.
This important commitment to community gardens and other forms of urban agriculture by the administration is a testament to your hard work and dedication. Thank you for all you do to improve our communities.
Please log onto the PlaNYC website or click here to download a copy of the updated plan.
Sincerely,
Larry Scott Blackmon,
Deputy Commissioner for Community Outreach
