Latest news with #SunsetCommunityGarden
New York Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Operators of anti-Israel community garden in Queens slapped with vacate order by NYC Parks Dept.
The leaders of a controversial anti-Israel community garden in Queens that forced attendees to pledge their support for Palestine are finally being ousted after months of legal wrangling. The NYC Parks Department issued a vacate order this week to the leaders of the Sunset Community Garden with a Sept. 3 deadline to leave — wrapping up a four-month fight sparked by complaints of antisemitism by the garden's organizers. 'There is no place for hate in New York City, and our community gardens should be safe, inclusive, and welcoming spaces for all New Yorkers,' Mayor Eric Adams told The Post. Advertisement 'It is reprehensible that the current operators at Sunset Community Garden barred some of their fellow New Yorkers from a city-owned public space because of their beliefs — and specifically tried to bar those who believe in a state of Israel, which the overwhelming majority of Jews do.' 4 The NYC Parks Department issued a vacate order Tuesday notifying an anti-Israel group they need to be out of a controversial Queens community garden by Sept. 3 – wrapping up a four-month fight sparked by complaints of garden organizers forcing attendees to pledge their support for Palestine. Helayne Seidman 'The Adams administration remains dedicated to stamping out hate wherever it is found,' he said. Advertisement The Parks Department had long been pushing for new management at the garden, located at Onderdonk and Willoughby avenues in Ridgewood, and revoked their license May 5, citing a breach of contract. But garden leaders ran to court claiming they were being discriminated against, prompting a judge to issue a temporary restraining order June 4 that allowed them to stay. 4 A special section of the green space was labeled 'Poppies 4 Palestine.' Instagram @sunsetgardenridgewood That order was recently lifted, allowing Parks to move forward with the ouster. Advertisement The garden opened in September 2023 at an unused lot at Grover Cleveland High School, starting out as non-political endeavor organized by the Parks Department and community leaders. However, it was soon overwhelmed by anti-Israel politics. 4 Altar to a trans activist at the Sunset Community Garden, seen through a chain-link fence. Helayne Seidman 4 The garden opened in September 2023 at unused lot at Grover Cleveland High School, starting out as non-political endeavor organized by the Parks Department and community leaders. Helayne Seidman Advertisement A special section of the green space is labeled 'Poppies 4 Palestine.' In June, garden organizer Laura Merrick renamed Sunset Community Garden to Jardin de Santa Cecilia in honor of Latina trans advocate Cecilia Gentili. The space is now home to a pair of 'altars' honoring Gentili. Merrick declined comment Friday, but her group filed a federal discrimination lawsuit July 31 against the Parks Department that is still pending.
New York Post
09-08-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
ANTI WOKE BIAS : ‘Garden of Hate' in Queens ups ante with federal litigation charging ‘viewpoint discrimination'
The leaders of an anti-Israel community garden that demanded members take a pro-Palestinian pledge are whining in a new federal lawsuit they are the victims of 'egregious viewpoint discrimination.' Sunset Community Garden organizers claim in recently filed Central Islip Federal Court papers their license was revoked this spring as punishment for their 'expressing messages of [Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color] affirmation and anti-discrimination.' The controversial Ridgewood garden came under fire in September, when Jewish neighbors told The Post they didn't feel welcome due to the far-left, pro-Palestine rhetoric and mandate that new members pledge 'solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized people' of Palestine by the garden's management. The green space even had a special section called 'Poppies for Palestine.' 4 The fight over this green space in Ridgewood continues, now in federal court. Helayne Seidman Citing a breach of contract, the city Parks Department tried to oust the group by June 6, prompting garden leaders to quickly sue in state court. The legal action was then filed in federal court July 31. The impending eviction left leaders of the garden at Onderdonk and Willoughby avenues with 'emotional distress, and the loss of their community sanctuary,' they claimed. 4 Jewish residents felt unwelcome in the garden, in part, because of this section of the property. Instagram @sunsetgardenridgewood Parks only came after them because of their 'actual or perceived gender identities, sexual orientation, and/or race, and by the QTBIPOC-affirming nature of the Plaintiffs' expressive conduct,' they insisted in court papers. 'While the plaintiffs go court shopping, it's time for Parks to take action,' said Christina Wilkinson, a Ridgewood resident who worked to secure funding for the green space, but is now one of its most vocal critics. 'We live in a city that prides itself on its diversity, and our public resources shouldn't be run by people who openly discriminate against any segment of the population.' 4 Christina Wilkinson was one of the garden's founding members, but now opposes its woke approach. Christina Wilkinson/ Instagram The latest filing also claimed that The Post's coverage of the ongoing litigation has resulted in 'violent online threats, including calls to firebomb its members and destroy the garden with poison.' Garden leaders also claimed 'six white men entered the Garden and aggressively interrogated and menaced two immigrant stewards of color' in September, just a day after their policy was exposed by The Post. 4 The garden has now sued the city twice for discrimination. Helayne Seidman An NYPD spokesperson did not respond to emails asking if the alleged incident was reported to them. In June, garden organizer Laura Merrick renamed Sunset Community Garden to Jardin de Santa Cecilia in honor of Latina trans advocate Cecilia Gentili. The space is now home to a pair of 'altars' honoring Gentili. Jonathan Wallace, the garden leaders' attorney, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The city's Parks Department didn't respond to requests for comment. A Law Department spokesman only confirmed the city had been served with the new lawsuit.
New York Post
02-08-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Queen's ‘Garden of Hate' taking case to federal court, rips judge and ‘scurrilous' NY Post coverage
The fight over a community garden in Queens is getting thornier. The attorney for the anti-Israel leaders of Sunset Community Garden in Ridgewood withdrew their state lawsuit against the city and the Parks Department — to make a federal case out of the issue. Since last fall, Jewish Ridgewood residents haven't felt welcome at Sunset Community Garden, thanks to the garden group's pro-Palestinian rhetoric, which included a special section labeled 'Poppies for Palestine.' 4 Some local residents said they do not feel welcome in the community garden, whose leaders asked incoming members to pledge 'solidarity' with the people of Palestine. Instagram @sunsetgardenridgewood Incoming members are also made to pledge 'solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized people' of Palestine' by the garden's management. The Parks Department wanted the group out by June 6 for 'violat[ing] the terms of their license' with the 'unconstitutional wording' of their 'ideological litmus test' for membership, according to court documents. The group responded with a state lawsuit in early June to block the eviction, and The Post was in the courtroom when attorneys for both sides met in court this month. But Jonathan Wallace, the garden leaders' attorney, withdrew the state lawsuit Monday, and told the city he plans to refile the case in federal court, a source said. In a letter this week, the lawyer accused Judge Hasa Kingo of allowing the 'scurrilous' New York Post's coverage to guide his rulings in court. 'The plaintiffs in this case are a community group composed largely of trans people of color, many of whom are immigrants, and who share a powerfully-rooted moral opposition to the horrifying violence committed by a political entity, the nation-state Israel, against the people of Gaza,' the letter read. 4 Attorney Jonathan Wallace objected to coverage from The Post. Michael Nagle 4 The garden's leaders are fighting the city's efforts to oust them. Helayne Seidman 'We could not be further from the ideals and goals stated by Justices Holmes and Brandeis when the Post appears to be influencing outcomes in judicial proceedings,' he added. 'As an old white, proudly Jewish attorney (something that in a 43-year career I never thought until now I would need to mention) I like and am content to be associated with' the garden leaders, Wallace concluded in his letter to Kingo. Christina Wilkinson — a Ridgewood resident who worked to secure funding for the green space, but is now one of its most vocal critics — said the switch to federal court a 'stall tactic,' and believes 'Parks must now remove the violators and find a community partner that will make Sunset Garden an open and inclusive place for all.' 4 Members planting in the garden in June 2024. Instagram @sunsetgardenridgewood She added, 'You have to love the irony of an attorney arguing that the City violated his clients' First Amendment rights, then turning around and complaining about [a Post reporter] being present in the courtroom.' Wallace did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Parks Department refused to respond to requests for comment.
New York Post
07-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Judge grants reprieve for anti-Israel Queens community garden after city pulls license
An anti-Israel community garden in Queens that forced incoming members to pledge 'solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized people' of Palestine has been given a reprieve as the city tries to shut it down. Judge Hasa Kingo on Wednesday blocked the city's efforts to revoke the group's license to run a community garden at the site, allowing it to keep operating — for now, court records show. The former Sunset Community Garden's leadership had alienated several Jewish Ridgewood residents with 10 'community agreements' — which included a commitment to interrupt 'violent behavior or rhetoric that expresses all forms of hate' — and a special section of the green space it labeled 'Poppies for Palestine.' 4 The city revoked the group's license to operate a community garden at the site. Helayne Seidman The pledge list breached Parks Department guidelines, the city said when revoking the group's license on May 5. Garden leadership had been given until June 6 to vacate the land on Onderdonk and Willoughby avenues in Ridgewood. 4 The memorial to Cecilia Gentili, who lived just blocks from the garden. poppies4palestine/ Insatgram Ridgewood resident Sara Schraeter-Mowers called Kingo 'ludicrous' for even entertaining the group's request to keep the garden up and running. The garden has since been renamed Jardin de Santa Cecilia, in honor of Latina trans advocate Cecilia Gentili, the group said in a news release calling the judge's decision 'a crucial legal victory' and 'a lifeline for our community.' 4 Jewish neighbors were put off by the Poppies 4 Palestine. Instagram @sunsetgardenridgewood The group accused the city of trying to 'erase a tribute' it erected last year to Gentili and 'punish our righteous solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide, and all oppressed peoples.' 'Pride is a riot they can't silence and this garden is a home they can't take away from us,' the group said in its statement. The case will be back before a judge next month. 'We hope to see the judge make this ruling permanent, preserving the garden as a sanctuary for queer, transgender, black, indigenous, and people of color communities,' the garden leadership said in a statement. 4 The group vowed to fight the city's move to shut them down. Helayne Seidman It 'is unfortunate that this garden group continues to disregard the same rules upheld by every GreenThumb community garden, despite our repeated efforts to work with them,' the Parks Department said in a statement. 'Our goal has always been to ensure that GreenThumb community gardens are managed responsibly and remain open and welcoming for everyone, regardless of their background.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NYC yanks license for anti-Israel Queens community garden that forced members to side with ‘marginalized' Palestinians
The city has yanked the license of a woke community garden in Queens that forced members to take a pledge in 'solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized people' of Palestine — but the 'radicals' behind the space are defiantly vowing to resist the order. The Parks Department revoked the license May 5, eight months after The Post first reported about the Sunset Community Garden, on Onderdonk and Willoughby avenues in Ridgewood and which had a special section called 'Poppies for Palestine.' The garden's 10 'community agreements' — which ironically included a commitment to interrupt 'violent behavior or rhetoric that expresses all forms of hate' — breached Parks guidelines, leading to the license's termination, the agency said. 'Parks informed the garden that their membership requirements were not compliant, as they required prospective members to affirm the group's political and ideological viewpoints as laid out in the Community Agreements,' the agency said. The property must be cleared out by June 6. Garden organizers raged on Instagram that they are 'being shut down by racist transphobes and zionists,' but are undeterred, launching an online petition to save the garden and accusing the city of 'wrongful termination' of its license. 'We're being singled out for honoring trans legacy, our no tolerance to hateful rhetoric, standing against genocide, and refusing to back down in the face of complaints from a politically connected, bigoted neighbor,' according to the group, which said the city was 'using retaliatory tactics and weaponizing bureaucracy.' The group is threatening 'legal and direct action' against the city and asking supporters to call their local representatives in a bid to reverse its ouster. Garden organizer Laura Merrick did not return a request for comment. The garden opened in September 2023, started as a non-political endeavor but was 'hijacked by crazies,' about seven months later, Christina Wilkinson one of the early backers, has said. Statements supporting the Palestinians became plentiful on the garden's now-private Instagram page. One post featured a painting with the words 'From the River to the Sea,' an antisemitic phrase calling for the destruction of Israel. The garden also called on members to commit to using 'people's correct pronouns' and asking 'if we are unsure.' Other mandates stated 'we center and celebrate our queer, trans, disabled, chronically ill, femme, poor, immigrant, refugee, fat bodies, and richly melanated community.' Ridgewood resident Sara Schraeter-Mowersglad said she's relieved the city finally took action. 'I am hoping that, under new leadership, [the garden] will become a space that is safe for everyone, and that people in the community who want to garden will finally feel welcome to do so,' said Schraeter-Mowersm who is Jewish and said the garden's mandates made her feel threatened and alienated in her own neighborhood. The site was built by the Parks Department and non-profit GrowNYC on part of an athletic field owned by the city Department of Education. The cost to taxpayers was not immediately available. The location will continue to exist as a community garden, but with limited public access between now and whenever a deal is inked with a new group who agrees to take it over, Parks said. 'Public community gardens are for everyone, not just those who pass a political litmus test,' said City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens), one of the pols who reps the area. 'If this group of radicals wants to create an exclusive space, they should purchase private land and do it in their own time and dime.'
