Brook Park in NY Times!

Congrats to the ASPIRA gardeners and Ray Figueroa!

In the Bronx, Less Asphalt, More Vegetables

In the Bronx, Less Asphalt, More Vegetables
By David Gonzalez

A symphony of dull thuds and sharp clanks heralded — what else? — the planting season at Brook Park in the Bronx. Teenagers took turns swinging sledgehammers and pickaxes as they tore up the remains of an ancient basketball court inside the Mott Haven park, where they have already planted eight large boxes now bursting with tomatoes, peppers, greens and other natural goodies.

“This used to be a parking lot,” said Raymond Figueroa, a program coordinator with Aspira, the youth group sponsoring the urban planting. “We’re opening up the asphalt so we can plant some more.”

And before you could ask, he launched into a list of the stuff they had already planted earlier this year.

“We got tomatoes,” he said. “We got eggplants. We got peppers. We got collard greens. We already did one harvest, which we donated to a food pantry that feeds 500 people.”

Brook Park, at Brook Avenue and East 141 Street, is a real city park run by some civic-minded folks, like Harry Bubbins. The plan had once been to rip up the asphalt to expose the brook that many believe still courses below the soil. But until the money can be found for that project, the plot will be used as a garden. Other parts of the park are thick and green with natural shade.

Mr. Figueroa said this was not some crunchy green exercise. When they haven’t been planting, watering or harvesting, they have been asked by Columbia University to help survey a wide swath of the South Bronx for other empty lots that can be used for vegetable gardens.

“Then we’re going to get into negotiations with the city so we can replicate this garden,” he said. “This is the diabetes capital of New York. One of the reasons is, the corner store doesn’t offer fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Rahkeem Williams, 14, was hauling chunks of broken asphalt to a slowly growing pile by the fence. He lives in the neighborhood and knows how hard it can be to eat properly.

“Healthy food? Around here?” he said. “It’s not that easy. It’s easy to get fast food. You go to McDonald’s, and they got their dollar menu. You go to the supermarket, and they want $3 for two cucumbers.”

The slow smashing of asphalt continued. A delegation of young people ventured off to a local church to see if it would take a donated harvest of collard greens. A young man waved a garden hose, shooting a glistening stream over the garden. Starr Giscombe went back to fill up her wheelbarrow with asphalt.

“It’s hard work,” she said. “It’s a lot of manual labor. It’s not just sitting in your office and working on a computer. It’s taking action.”

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