La Plaza Cultural Garden

I have become enamored of community gardens since the start of this website. I was always somewhat aware of them, but like many, I just had a passing interest. Years of living in the city combined with getting away too infrequently can make one yearn for some green space and really appreciate the parks and community gardens NYC city has to offer. And for those of lesser means, these can be the only nature they may have to enjoy. I have featured a number of gardens previously - click any of the following four links Albert's Garden, Laguardia, FishBridge, West Side Community Garden. The East Village/Lower East Side has over 70 of these community gardens - here's a map. La Plaza Cultural Garden is located at 9th Street and Avenue C. I have read that the flowers along the fence, created from tin cans, detergent bottles, beer caps, and other junk, were done by a local resident known as the "Flower Man." It also appears that some or the creations are birdhouses - click here for closeup photo. This garden, established in 1976, has a very complex and extremely fascinating history. Read more here and see their website here. There are many events held here and the garden functions as a performance space and cultural center. La Plaza is a registered Backyard Wildlife Habitat with huge willow trees which provide shade and shelter to humans and wildlife. La Plaza has been home to artists, including Tito Puente, Gordon Matta Clark, Keith Haring, Robert Wise and Buckminster Fuller - at one time there was a geodesic dome built with help. A short film entitled Rock Soup profiled the Garden in it’s infancy with a dirty, haunting look at the homeless in La Plaza Cultural in the late 80’s. Click here to view it ...