Rubus Landscape has joined Gardens Rising! A community lead stormwater infrastructure project, Gardens Rising is a “groundbreaking experiment in citizen participation, self-governance and self-determination” say’s it’s executive director Aziz Dehkan. The New York City Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC,) received a two million dollar grant from the Governor’s Office of Storm Recover (GOSR) to install storm recovery projects in the East Village’s 47 community gardens. One quarter of the grant is going to a Feasibility Study lead by WE Design landscape architects. The other three quarters will go toward installing projects between January 2017 and September 2019. Rubus Landscape has been hired as a staff project manager by the NYCCGC. This is a great roll for us, with our small size and extensive experience building in the public realm we can give personal attention to the project without big expense. WE Design is the primary landscape architect for the Feasibility Study with team members from eDesign Dynamics and 3x3 Design. Together with Aziz Dekhan, Executive Director and Charles Krezell, Project Director and founder of LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) it is a great team with extensive landscape architecture, engineering and community organizing experience, making sure Gardens Rising will be a successful project by and for the people.

The range of landscape types within these 47 gardens is amazing. From rolling hills and open plazas, to barn yard chickens and quite places to sit and read, these community gardens offer so many valuable places for people to live outside. Gardens Rising will add to the Gardens' value be making them even more important to the city as stormwater infrastructure and beacons of refuge during storm events. Gardeners hope this project will increase the value of gardens as gardens for the city, as most of them are only leased to the people and could be developed if the city decides it should be so. If you live in NYC please join us in this rewarding project. See the Gardens Rising website for details.

The Gowanus Canal Conservancy is a small not-for-profit hoping to have a big impact on the Gowanus Canal. Situated between established Brooklyn neighborhoods: Parks Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Boerum HIll, the Canal functioned as a clear division, but those days are coming to an end. The Canal was designated a Superfund site in 2010 and developers are already encroaching with promises that the Canal will be cleaned up in the next decade. The Canal has also attracted a host research projects, master plan visions and landscape architects exploring the complexity of developing a polluted industrial area into something beautiful.

I began going to "volunteer coordinator" meetings in January of this year, to be confronted with a room of 30 landscape architects, artists and gardeners all excited about the potential in their back yard. Many of the members have been involved for years and although the group seems richer in ideas than products, this year is promised to be a productive one. The season started off with a walking tour on one of those special early spring days when every other day that week was reaching a high of 40 and we happily toured in 55 degree weather on a sunny Saturday morning in early March.

Gardens Rising in the East Village

Gowanus Canal Conservancy - Grassroots LAs