City Council has tried to address that question twice already. Two resolutions were introduced in the past three years. One in 2007 sought to extend the existing settlement by preserving all existing GreenThumb gardens and set aside more parkland, open space and vacant lots for gardens. Another resolution introduced in 2009 called for GreenThumb gardens to be represented on the official New York City map as city parks.
Neither bill was voted on, however, and as the Council calendar is cleared for the new year, they won’t be. Several councilmembers are formulating new legislation, slated for introduction in early 2010, aimed at protecting the gardens. “Something will happen over the next few months to bring attention to this matter,” said Bill Murray, legislative aide to Queens Councilman James Gennaro, chairman of the Committee on Environmental Protection. Gennaro's bill, now being finalized, would call on the mayor and attorney general to extend the 2002 memorandum of understanding, Murray said. “People have forgotten about it, but the settlement does expire and something’s got to be done.”
But Stone cautions that even protecting the land under the current settlement’s provisions doesn’t necessarily mean protecting gardens. Even if legislation is passed that puts all gardens under park department protection, nothing prevents the department from using that land for other purposes.
“The Parks Department could pave over them all and stick a basketball court on it and that would be totally allowed,” she said.
