Viewpoint
What is Margaret Chin thinking? Save the garden!
BY DONNA SCHAPER
It pains me to write this op-ed. The
stakes are too high not to. We could
lose the Elizabeth St. Garden unless
Councilwoman Margaret Chin returns to
her old self, when she listened to people
and fought for human needs. Instead, it
seems she ignores the many people who
want the garden as it is, and who also
want affordable housing. Could it be that
Margaret Chin wants housing only in her
district, because then she gets credit for
those units, instead of considering the
wider picture and advocating for more
affordable housing nearby — but over the
border of her turf?
I just joined the committee called 21
in 21 — to elect women Council representatives
to the New York City Council.
Yes, 21 by 2021. The number of women
on the Council is declining, and we will
lose another one when Margaret is termlimited
out.
Many people
have given up on
Margaret. I have
not.
But we want more women because
we think they listen better to everyone,
which is why we are happy with the new
majority leader of the New York State
Senate.
But what happened to Margaret? She
doesn’t meet with people. She didn’t tell
Community Board 2 she was taking the
garden and partnering with Habitat for
Humanity’s proposal. She is not returning
our calls.
We have invited her to speak at Judson
Memorial Church on several occasions
about the garden. She agreed to meet
with us at her offi ce, but instead she sent
her aide. As the pastor of a large institution
in the Village, this seems unwise. Of
course, our political representatives do
not have to agree with me or my constituency.
But they should sometimes listen.
I have stories she should hear. I would
tell her about the 10-year-old in my congregation
and in Margaret’s district who
caught a fi refl y on a movie night at the
garden. Or the 80-year-old constituent
whose only outdoor time is in the garden.
Or all the people at Judson this past
Sunday, the 13th, wondering about the
garden and praying for a little peace to
our south. The councilwoman was invited
— neither she nor anyone from her
offi ce showed up.
Unfortunately, many people have
given up on Margaret. I have not.
Reverend Donna Schaper, senior minister of Judson Church, left, with birthday girl Doris Diether at
Diether’s 90th birthday bash at the church last Thursday. Three days later, as Schaper writes in this column,
there was a concerned discussion among Judson congregants about the dire situation at the Elizabeth
St. Garden in Little Italy.
So, I am sending this op-ed over to
her before I submit it to the newspapers.
The reasons are obvious. We want
to keep the garden and we hope her political
imagination will show us how.
We want more housing, as well, but we
have heard that she is not interested in
the bigger “alternative site” — at Hudson
and Clarkson Sts. — because it is
not in her Council district.
She talks only about a “compromise”
within the tiny green space, in a neighborhood
starved for gardens. A better
win-win would be to fi ght for affordable
housing on Hudson St. — we found the
site, we need an advocate.
We are glad that Chin and Mayor
de Blasio seek low-cost housing. But
scrapping a community garden and
gathering place when there are better
sites available is impossible to understand.
People need housing AND air,
sun, trees and each other. To kill that
for tiny housing units makes no sense.
A delegation from Judson visited
with Habit for Humanity to express
our concerns. We were well received
and hope to remain friends with people
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
whose organization many congregations,
including ours, have supported
for decades. Yet I worry about Habitat’s
brand. They look selfi sh to destroy a
garden in order to get a good low rent.
As I said, writing this piece is painful.
Yet, given my mission, I must speak
out loud and plainly. I can’t ignore representatives
who ignore my people. I
can’t let a garden go easily. Once gone,
it won’t come back.
Schaper is senior minister, Judson
Memorial Church
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