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Community Gardens Are Now Closed To The Public As Part Of Coronavirus Response
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Mar 23, 2020
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Sydney Pereira/Gothamist
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Mar 23, 2020
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Community gardens must close to the public as a part of Governor Andrew Cuomo's "PAUSE" order that is aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 to mitigate impacts on an already-strapped healthcare system.
In an email sent to gardeners on Sunday, GreenThumb, the Parks Department's community garden program, said gardens must close to the general public and only open for members during necessary maintenance, "effective immediately" and "until further notice."
"Due to the relatively small spaces in most gardens and the difficulty in achieving safe social distancing of 6 feet or more, gardens must remain closed to the general public," GreenThumb said in an update. "We realize that this will be disappointing to some, but it is necessary to help protect public health."
Parks Department spokesperson Dan Kastanis said: "Most GreenThumb gardens have a small footprint which makes it difficult to achieve safe social distancing when open to the public, as such, they are only open to garden members at this time."
GreenThumb advised gardens—of which there are more than 550 in New York City—to only open the garden for necessary maintenance by garden members. Public events or in-person gatherings are banned on Parks Department property and social distancing of six feet between people is required. Garden groups should stagger access to minimize the number of members inside them simultaneously, and gardeners should disinfect shared tools and spaces, the email read.
"I think it's a good move on their part," Aziz Dehkan, the executive director of the New York City Community Garden Coalition, told Gothamist. "Parks are open because they have much more space, but the community gardens—certainly with their smaller space and sizing—it makes eminent sense to keep them closed to the public at this time."
"What I've been hearing from a lot of the gardeners is that they had already on their own decided to close up to the public," he added.
Nick McKinney, co-president of an East Village community garden, 6BC Botanical Garden, said it was unfortunate they had to close, but ultimately made sense.
"In this particular case, unfortunately, it just doesn't make sense for people to be coming into a confined space like this," McKinney said. "It's a spacious garden, as far as gardens go, but it's still got four walls around it."
During the closure at 6BC, members will feed fish in the garden's pond and conduct other maintenance. McKinney, a 20-year East Village resident, said 6BC remained open even after Superstorm Sandy and the September 11th terrorist attacks; a solar-powered outlet allowed people to charge their phones.
"I think we're all a bit disappointed we can't keep it open, but at this point, it's probably the sensible thing to do," McKinney said.
The garden guidelines are a part of increasing closures and restrictions in NYC to slow COVID-19's spread. While Parks Department parks and playgrounds have not been required to close, the governor has implored New Yorkers to only go outside for solo walks or exercise and stop congregating in large groups. Mayor Bill de Blasio echoed the new limitations during his Sunday press briefing.
The mayor noted that playgrounds—which are not sanitized—would not be closed, but rather, officers would enforce social distancing measures to require people not to overcrowd areas in parks. He said parents should take responsibility when using playgrounds and told New Yorkers not to congregate with others they don't live with.
This article has been updated with comment from the Parks Department.
Tagged
open space
COVID-19
coronavirus
community gardens
green space
Sydney Pereira
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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