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Parks & Public Spaces
Madison Square Park Conservancy's application to conduct special events in Worth Square on Sunday and Monday, April 10th and 11th, 2011
WHEREAS, Madison Square Park Conservancy has submitted an application seeking permission to conduct an event in Worth Square on Sunday and Monday April 10 and April 11, 2011, and in Madison Square Park on Tuesday April 12, 2011, from 11:00 AM until 6:00 PM, as part of the Second Annual Triscuit National Home Farming Day; and
WHEREAS, This event would be sponsored by Triscuit, who in exchange will contribute a $45,000.00 donation to the Madison Square Park Conservancy; and
WHEREAS, The Home Farming movement was recently conceived and this proposed event has been previously conducted in several cities as a means to help establish and strengthen the relationship between urban residents, the food we eat, and the green spaces we use and enjoy; and
WHEREAS, On Sunday and Monday April 10 and April 11, 2011, a small home farming cart would be set-up in Worth Square providing information on the movement and on the upcoming event in Madison Square Park; and
WHEREAS, The actual Home Farming Day event would be conducted on Tuesday April 12, 2011, in the gravel area in the southwest of Madison Square Park; and
WHEREAS, This proposed event would feature an interactive planting station designed to enlist new home farmers into the movement and to inspire park visitors as they experience how easy and rewarding it can be to farm at home; and
WHEREAS, This proposed event would feature a digital wall, which will display live streams of simultaneous Home Farming Day events in Los Angeles and Tampa, pre-recorded footage of some previous success stories, and celebrity horticulturalist and HGTV star Paul James, providing gardening tips and serving as the host; and
WHEREAS, This proposed event would feature a Home Farm Café, which would offer participants samples of various dips made from home farmed herbs, served on Triscuit crackers; and
WHEREAS, Guests would have an opportunity to plant a "home farm" in Madison Square Park using a variety of seeds, soil discs and small post which they could take with them, and they would be offered a "plantable post card" which they could take to share the share the experience with friends; and
WHEREAS, Both Community Board Five and Madison Square Park Conservancy have expressed a preference that corporate signage is kept to a minimum, and although this would not be entirely eliminated, in most cases, the signage emphasis is placed predominantly on home farming; and
WHEREAS, It is hoped that this event would bring New Yorker's closer to their environment through encouraging park visitors to become home farmers, and develop a deeper appreciation for the park's horticulture and tranquil green spaces; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval of Madison Square Park Conservancy's application to conduct the Second Annual Triscuit National Home Farming Day events in Worth Square on Sunday and Monday April 10 and April 11, 2011, and in Madison Square Park on Tuesday April 12, 2011.
The above resolution passed by a vote of 26 in favor; 3 opposed; 1 abstaining.