Seven years ago, Lashawn “Suga Ray” Martson had a vision.
He was going to build a community garden on the barren stretch of land between the ramp to the Queensboro Bridge and NYCHA’s Queensbridge South Houses where he grew up. It was going to be a healing place for the community intended to honor victims of gun violence as well as offer a verdant space for quiet thought.
His plan included two dog parks, a memorial wall, a contemplation pond, space for yoga, plants, flowers, and trees.
Suga Ray bought the shovels, the paint, and the soil. And then one day, in the middle of the night, everything was stolen.
“And so the vision?” Suga Ray, 36, said. “I let it lay dormant.”
In the wave of a pandemic that has left city residents largely stuck in their apartments, safe, public outdoor spaces have never been more necessary, especially in a place like the Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing development in the country, with 50 acres of grounds, 26 buildings, 3,142 units, and nearly 7,000 residents.
Now, as the fall sets in and worries rise about a second wave of the coronavirus, many residents in public housing are turning to green spaces to escape their apartments.
The location for the Queensbridge Sacred Garden.
“People are trapped...They can’t get out, [and] the apartments are falling apart all around them,” said Stan Morse, the lead organizer with the Justice For All Coalition which works to support tenants in public housing. “So, to have an outside space where they can get out and get away from the lack of repairs and all the things that they deal with is really critical.”
Suga Ray is picking up where he left off seven years ago.
“There’s a whole lot of things you can do in a community garden. It’s the best thing you can do with empty land — except provide housing,” he said.
But for all his newfound enthusiasm, it hasn’t been an easy path. Suga Ray said he has gone back and forth with the Parks Department and NYCHA since 2013, trying to figure out which city agency has jurisdiction over the land.
For decades, residents in public housing in all five boroughs have worked with NYCHA to create community gardens throughout the 2,400 acres of green space across their developments.
Queensbridge has eight community gardens between the North and South complexes, according to a NYCHA spokesperson, all of which are managed in conjunction with the mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety and Building Communities and the Riis Settlement House non-profit. During the pandemic, NYCHA issued COVID-19 precautions and safety measures for residents interested in community gardening.
When reached for comment, a NYCHA spokesperson said they were “currently working with the residents involved to find an alternative site” for Suga Ray’s project. They advised that those interested in starting a community garden need to submit an application with NYCHA’s Resident Engagement team—something Suga Ray said he just did, now that he knows NYCHA has claimed ownership of the land.
Lashawn “Suga Ray” Martson in front of the Queensbridge Sacred Garden.
In the meantime, with the help of Lauren Ashcraft, who recently ran for Congress in the district that covers the Queensbridge Houses, the two went ahead and created a petition and a GoFundMe for supplies.
“We were like, ‘Alright, if NYCHA doesn’t want it, and Parks doesn’t want it...Now it’s for the people!’” Ashcraft said.
In April, Representative Carolyn Maloney demanded that NYCHA seriously improve its response to the coronavirus pandemic, as many residents claimed that the buildings were not getting cleaned and sanitized properly. In September, Maloney wrote a letter to Gregory Russ, the chair and CEO of NYCHA, expressing her support for Suga Ray’s garden, advocating for the need of green space for residents during the pandemic. “This plot of land has long been underutilized, and its conversion into a public garden would be a great benefit to the Queensbridge community,” the letter said.
Suga Ray said he is done waiting for official approval, as he offers a tour of the plot, where tall grass and piles of dead leaves and trash have been cleared out, replaced by colorful flower beds and homemade signs welcoming you to the “Queensbridge Sacred Garden.”
“We’re gonna go there and guerrilla garden!” he said. “You know, you can wait for permission, or just ask for forgiveness.”
He’s not too worried about NYCHA trying to relocate the garden. “I would use all my resources to keep the garden exactly where it is and build it more,” he said.
Suga Ray’s daughter, Usha, as her grandmother, Kim Martson, looks on.
“I’m stronger, I’m more confident, my vision is clearer,” Suga Ray continued. “But all that doesn’t matter without the people around me who see the vision, too.”
Soon, a woman cradling a baby cilantro plant wrapped up in newspaper approached. She had noticed the garden, she said, and asked tentatively if she could plant something of her own. Suga Ray beamed and pointed her to a groomed flower bed at the edge of the garden.
“I’m going to get my husband!” she exclaimed, before promising to return to help with some weeding. Suga Ray was elated.
“That,” he said, “is what it’s all about.”
