About This Item

  • Call NumberOSOS_OH_0018-accs
  • Summary(0:52) Creation of the garden in 1978 -- (1:14) Re-discovering the abandoned garden in 1996 -- (1:43) Rat infestation -- (2:25) Trust for Public Land purchasing the garden during sale of garden lots by Mayor Giuliani -- (3:00) Mr. Cooper's Management -- (3:48) Changing the philosophy of the garden -- (4:00) Misuse of the garden -- (4:22) Bringing people together -- (5:02) Garden as cultural center of "Bushwick Alley" -- (5:45) NYU documentary by Belgian filmmaker -- (6:20) Planting trees -- (6:44) Guiding youth -- (7:17) Fashion show by women's shelter -- (7:34) Church school supply drive -- (7:47) Avoiding involvement by local politicians -- (8:45) Events in the garden -- (11:44) Building dance floor and pathways -- (13:26) Attracting bees (14:20) Community cooperation -- (15:50) Types of produce at the garden -- (16:30) Neighborhood changes -- (17:16) Challenges with gentrification and homophobia -- (19:50) Affordable housing meetings -- (20:30) Teaching respect to neighborhood youth -- (22:14) Helping the homeless -- (23:14) Garbage and crack cocaine vials -- (27:04) Advice for future garden members -- (28:12) The importance of tolerance -- (29:58) Carlito's Way movie shoot -- (30:36) Being an welcoming garden.
  • Date2016-08-01
  • Physical Description1 sound file (37 min.) : digital, MP3
  • CreatorPagan, Hernan
  • Cite AsBrooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
  • Digital Public Library of AmericaThis item is represented in the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).
  • Formatsound recording-nonmusical
  • GenreinterviewsMP3
  • NoteAudio interview conducted on August 1, 2016, by Samantha Feldman at The People's Garden. Collected through Our Streets, Our Stories, an oral history project of Brooklyn Public Library. This interview stems from a shared partnership with Brooklyn Public Library and Brooklyn Queens Land Trust under the name of Our Gardens, Our Stories.
  • SubjectCommunity gardens ; Community development ; Gardening ; Horticulture ; Citizens’ associations ; Pests--Control ; Trust for Public Land (U.S.) ; Giuliani, Rudolph W. ; Concerts ; Music ; Gentrification ; Homophobia ; Housing ; Homelessness ; Drug abuse ; Youth development ; Bees ; Home ownership ; Tolerance
  • PlaceBushwick (New York, N.Y.)Sheepshead Bay (New York, N.Y.)
  • RightsThis work is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Users are free to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given to the source and new material created with this work is shared under the same conditions.
  • TitleOral history interview conducted with Hernan Pagan on 2016 August 01.