Date: Time Period: 2009; 2009; Interview recorded in 2009Material: digital audio recording made using Edirol R-09 digital recorder and Adobe Soundbooth software.Dimension:
Total running time: 0:39:27
Creator: Lara Adler interviewed by Sabine HeinleinIdentifier: aql:18120 adler_lara_full
Description: "This is something that would be unique to the borough, to be able to hold on to the original context of this plot." Until a few years ago Lara Adler was “the type of New Yorker who curses out her boss after work.” Now, she has finally found her passion as a holistic health coach. She helps people with health problems bring together the components that make for a happy life, such as natural food, good relationships, fulfillment at work and spiritual balance. A few months ago Lara decided to implement her mission on a larger scale. Lara teamed up with six other Sunnyside and Woodside residents to form the Sunnyside Community Garden Collaboration and fight for the creation of a communal outdoor space on a landmarked, abandoned property next to her home on 50th Street. Until 1997 the derelict playground with slide and swings, sycamore trees, charming old tin shed and gazebo belonged to the Phipps Garden community across the street on 39th Avenue. But since 2007, when Phipps sold the lot to DBH Associates, a private developer from Woodside, the only ones enjoying it have been the colonies of black squirrels and stray cats who have made it home. “It’s an eyesore right next to my home,” says Lara, who wants turn the 10,000-square-feet “bag catcher”— the ugly chain-link fencing catches bags and debris—into a nature learning plot for public school children, vegetable beds, a shaded, wheelchair-accessible area with benches and an outdoor performance space. A community garden, Lara thinks, can be a first step in connecting humans with nature and residents with each other. “It is one thing to sprout a seed in a plastic cup and then take it home to your parents only to have it wither and die,” she says. “It’s a lot more exciting to watch it grow and have it produce something you can eat.” The space should be functional, but beyond the “Oh-look-there-are-some-pretty-tomatoes-growing-that-are-gonna-feed- someone-but-not-me.” A Jazz band could play under the existing gazebo and the “adorable little tin shed plopped in the center adds a lot of character.” She says, “This is something that would be unique to the borough, to be able to hold on to the original context of this plot.” A former development proposal from DBH Associates has been turned down by the Landmarks Commission. Lara hopes that the developer, who acquired the land for $1.4 million, will donate it to a nonprofit organization and use it as a tax write-off, or at least be willing to accommodate the community’s urgent need for connection and public green space. “Now is the best time to jump on it,” says Lara, who thinks New York’s growing interest in farmers markets and ecological living will work in her favor. Her group has already gained support from Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and it recently applied for funding from North Star’s Greening Western Queens Fund. The fund stems from, a $7.9 million settlement from Con Edison and is dedicated to investing in energy-efficiency and environmental projects in the communities affected by the 2006 blackout. If allotted, the Sunnyside Community Garden Collaboration will use an initial $5,400 grant for a fact-finding mission, for renting space for outreach meetings, for printing costs for flyers and to build a website to gather community support and opposition against the developer.
Creator : Lara Adler interviewed by Sabine Heinlein
Date : Time Period: 2009; 2009; Interview recorded in 2009
Summary/Description : "This is something that would be unique to the borough, to be able to hold on to the original context of this plot." Until a few years ago Lara Adler was “the type of New Yorker who curses out her boss after work.” Now, she has finally found her passion as a holistic health coach. She helps people with health problems bring together the components that make for a happy life, such as natural food, good relationships, fulfillment at work and spiritual balance. A few months ago Lara decided to implement her mission on a larger scale. Lara teamed up with six other Sunnyside and Woodside residents to form the Sunnyside Community Garden Collaboration and fight for the creation of a communal outdoor space on a landmarked, abandoned property next to her home on 50th Street. Until 1997 the derelict playground with slide and swings, sycamore trees, charming old tin shed and gazebo belonged to the Phipps Garden community across the street on 39th Avenue. But since 2007, when Phipps sold the lot to DBH Associates, a private developer from Woodside, the only ones enjoying it have been the colonies of black squirrels and stray cats who have made it home. “It’s an eyesore right next to my home,” says Lara, who wants turn the 10,000-square-feet “bag catcher”— the ugly chain-link fencing catches bags and debris—into a nature learning plot for public school children, vegetable beds, a shaded, wheelchair-accessible area with benches and an outdoor performance space. A community garden, Lara thinks, can be a first step in connecting humans with nature and residents with each other. “It is one thing to sprout a seed in a plastic cup and then take it home to your parents only to have it wither and die,” she says. “It’s a lot more exciting to watch it grow and have it produce something you can eat.” The space should be functional, but beyond the “Oh-look-there-are-some-pretty-tomatoes-growing-that-are-gonna-feed- someone-but-not-me.” A Jazz band could play under the existing gazebo and the “adorable little tin shed plopped in the center adds a lot of character.” She says, “This is something that would be unique to the borough, to be able to hold on to the original context of this plot.” A former development proposal from DBH Associates has been turned down by the Landmarks Commission. Lara hopes that the developer, who acquired the land for $1.4 million, will donate it to a nonprofit organization and use it as a tax write-off, or at least be willing to accommodate the community’s urgent need for connection and public green space. “Now is the best time to jump on it,” says Lara, who thinks New York’s growing interest in farmers markets and ecological living will work in her favor. Her group has already gained support from Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and it recently applied for funding from North Star’s Greening Western Queens Fund. The fund stems from, a $7.9 million settlement from Con Edison and is dedicated to investing in energy-efficiency and environmental projects in the communities affected by the 2006 blackout. If allotted, the Sunnyside Community Garden Collaboration will use an initial $5,400 grant for a fact-finding mission, for renting space for outreach meetings, for printing costs for flyers and to build a website to gather community support and opposition against the developer.
Rights : These audio recordings, photos and articles are the property of Sabine Heinlein. Uses of edited excerpts from her interviews are protected under a Creative Commons public domain license, but her full, unedited audio is open to researchers by request. Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for access. For reproductions of the unedited recordings, please contact Sabine Heinlein at (sabineheinlein@gmail.com).
Coverage : Locations discussed: Sunnyside, NY Sunnyside (New York, N.Y.) Queens (New York, N.Y.)
Type : Oral history
Format : digital audio recording made using Edirol R-09 digital recorder and Adobe Soundbooth software.; Total running time: 0:39:27
Rights Notice These audio recordings, photos and articles are the property of Sabine Heinlein. Uses of edited excerpts from her interviews are protected under a Creative Commons public domain license, but her full, unedited audio is open to researchers by request. Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for access. For reproductions of the unedited recordings, please contact Sabine Heinlein at (sabineheinlein@gmail.com).
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