By Dustin Brown
Where a gate once stood there is now a sheet of chain-link, a thin yet remarkably resilient barrier blocking a group of gardeners from their plot of earth.
In memory of the gate, which had been the garden’s only entrance, they have posted a brief letter.
“To all our Friends,” it reads. “The Roots Garden and FF Michael Brennan Memorial has been closed by Public Storage Company. The gardeners appreciate all your support. We hope to be back and growing soon.”
The land is theirs not by name but by stewardship. The small group of gardeners landed there in 1996 and have developed it into a greenspace, a much-needed oasis in an industrial neighborhood that has evolved into a haven of offices and schools. The project moved rapidly ahead this year when neighborhood schools and employees joined the community gardeners in a new organization, LIC Roots.
But ownership of the thin parcel that runs along 47th Avenue by 30th Place is claimed by Public Storage, a corporation that occupies a large warehouse on the opposite end of the block along 48th Avenue.
“The attorneys for the company were vehemently of the opinion there was no right for the garden to be on their dirt,” said Noah Kaufman, the garden manager and an employee of the city Department of Design and Construction, which is housed in a nearby building.
It is a property dispute between a large corporation and a small grass-roots organization, a stereotypical tale of David battling Goliath with the outcome yet unseen.
But with the planting of a certain tree, the dispute has assumed implications that extend even deeper than the fundamental question of securing open space.
In April, a sapling in the garden was dedicated to the memory of Firefighter Michael Brennan, who died Sept. 11 in the rescue effort at the World Trade Center. His mother, Eileen Walsh, is a secretary at the nearby Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology, which spearheaded the creation of LIC Roots.
But on the day of the ceremony, the gate to the garden was locked, access to its nascent blooms denied. The ceremony was held along the edge of 47th Avenue, the garden visible through the wall of wire.
And the battle quietly raged on. Last month Public Storage sent contractors to remove the gate entirely, replacing it with a tall chain-link fence. Noticeably absent now is any way to get into the space.
“They are trying to protect their rights and I respect that,” Kaufman said of Public Storage. “We’re looking to ensure that there’s a community garden, community beautification component and memorial component somewhere, and we are still committed to find appropriate open space for the whole community.”
Repeated phone calls to a Manhattan attorney representing Public Storage and its president were not returned.
Kaufman said brief discussions with the company did not yield any resolution.
The gardeners began tilling earth on the site about six years ago with permission of the property’s previous owners, ABC Capital Cities. As an unused railroad track runs through the garden, it was believed to be an easement owned by the Long Island Railroad.
Terry Born, the principal at Wagner, said LIC Roots is weighing two options: raising enough funds to remain or moving the garden to a new location.
Taking the funds route is unlikely. The garden lies along the edge of a weed-strewn, one-acre property currently up for sale, according to signs posted around its perimeter. Born said the asking price is around $4 million.
A brighter prospect would be moving to a property owned by the Metropolitan Transit Authority just a few blocks to the west, between 30th and 29th streets on the south side of 47th Avenue.
Representatives of City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Woodside), state Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood) and Community Board 2 have met with the gardeners and are trying to secure a home for them.
Since Public Storage appears adamant about removing the garden from its land, Born said she hopes the company would help with the move to the MTA land.
“We hope that they will be willing to move us,” she said. “They have not said that they would not be able to do that.”
Although a resolution may be in sight, the dispute with Public Storage comes as a disappointment to Firefighter Brennan’s mother.
“I think it’s a real lack of community spirit for the people that live and work here,” Eileen Walsh said. “This was also dedicated to a person whose life was taken at the Trade Center. I think it shows a lack of interest or a lack of humanity.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
