Subject: (FWD) New York Gardens - Giuliani strikes again ========================================================================= Hello, everyone, please take a moment to read this important notice about our city, and we hope you will sign the petition to preserve these lovely oases. Thanks - New York gardeners ************************************************************************* With 14,000 empty, buildable lots in New York City and only 750 community gardens, Mayor Giuliani plans to auction off over 120 thriving community gardens in May. This is the second auction in which gardens have been targeted. These gardens, many of them decades old, were established with the city's blessing on abandoned and vacant lots that had often been centers of drug and crime activity. New York City's gardens are known across the country. They are studied in our nation's schools. Their disappearance would mark not only a tragedy for the city, but would set a dangerous precedent for other cities across the country whose garden programs are struggling to survive. The Mayor thinks only a small minority care about the gardens. If he were made aware of the large numbers of people, not only in New York but across the nation, who care about this issue, he will be forced to reconsider his policies. Please take a moment to read this petition. Sign at the bottom if you agree and forward the petition to all the people you know who would support it. If you are the 50th, 100th, 150th...(etc) signature, please also e-mail the petition to: NYCgardens@cobite.com For more information about New York City community gardens and the efforts to save them, visit http://www.nycgardens.org/ PETITION IN SUPPORT OF NYC'S GARDENS Dear Mayor Giuliani, Community gardens represent one of the best and most all around positive developments in New York City. They are founded by working New Yorkers, thrive on principles of a true democracy, provide solace, learning, and pleasure to young and old, offer bridges across cultures and ethnic groups, offer space for a multitude of cultural activities, and turn neighborhoods and indeed the city as a whole into a more vibrant and healthy environment. New York's gardens have set a national example of innovative and successful public policy and urban renewal. They are studied and admired across the country. Their preservation represents a special opportunity to set a critical environmental benchmark in this issue and to evidence foresight for the cities of the future. We hereby ask that you withdraw the gardens from the auction list. Sincerely, 1. Myla Goldberg, Brooklyn, NY 2. Mark Leger, Brooklyn, NY 3. Julie Warsowe, Brooklyn, NY 4. Alan Chin, New York, NY 5. Jill Underwood, Brooklyn, NY 6. Ed Gilmartin, Brooklyn, NY 7. Daniel Kleinfeld, Manhattan, NY 8. Colin Young, Brooklyn, NY 9. Katherine Puma, New York, NY 10. Katherine Harber, New York, NY 11. Patrick Boyd, New York, NY 12. Jay Douglas, New York, NY 13. David Aron Damane, NY 14. Tim Albrecht, NY, NY 15. Dathan B. Williams 16. Gerry Geddes, NY, NY 17. Anthony Gaglione, Long Beach, NY 18. James Pericas, Long Beach, NY 19. Natalie Douglas, NYC, NY 20. D. Jay Bradley, Jersey City, NJ 20. Kate Strachan, NYC, NY 21. Allegra Millan, Brooklyn, NY 22. Patricia Hanley, NYC, NY 23. Terence Ford, Brooklyn, NY 24. Priso H. Epale, NY, NY 25. Rufus D. Muller NY, NY 26. Richard J. Sanchez NY, NY 27. Brian A. Nedvin CT 28. Anita Johnson, NY, NY 29. Claudia Waite, NY, NY 30. Timothy A. Bernard, Santa Rosa, CA 31. John Consedine, Santa Rosa, CA 32. Ben Gilbert, Santa Rosa, CA 33. Anne Atkinson, Santa Rosa, CA 34. Keith Johnson. Asheville, NC Don't forget that in order to 'sign' this petition, you need to cut and paste the entire message into a new e-mail, add your name and send the message.