GrowNYC Education - Special Edition: Annual Plant Sale and Seed Giveaway!

GrowNYC Education

Every year since 1986, GrowNYC holds our Annual Spring Plant Sale in order to provide community groups with perennial and annual flowering plants, herbs, and vegetables from Greenmarket farmers at wholesale prices. Plants are for neighborhood open space projects only (e.g. community gardens, schools, block associations, churches, etc.) and may be sold to raise other funds. Our 2024 Plant Sale will have 2 pickup locations:

Domino Park (parking lot)

26 North 1st Street

Brooklyn, NY 11249 - GPS coordinates to site

Thursday May 2nd - 12pm to 4pm

Friday May 3rd - 12pm to 4pm

Saturday May 4th - 12pm to 4pm

GrowNYC’s New York State Regional Food Hub

298 Halleck Street, (corner of Halleck St and Viele Ave)

Bronx, NY 10474 - GPS coordinates to site

Friday May 10th - 12pm to 4pm

Saturday May 11th - 12pm to 4pm

Order Deadline is Friday, April 5th.

School Gardens Seed Giveaway

Last chance for our seed giveaway! We can distribute seeds to DOE K-12 public schools in NYC! We have a wide selection of vegetables, herbs, and flowers to choose from. Each school can get 15 packets of seeds.

• To be eligible, you must be a DOE K-12 public or charter school in NYC, and you must have an up-to-date school registration with GrowNYC.

• Email schoolgardens@grownyc.org for help with registration.

• The deadline to submit this form is March 30th, 2024.

CONSUMER ALERT: NYS Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection Reminds New Yorkers of Home Improvement Scams and Ways to Protect Themselves

 

Secretary Rodriguez said, “Unfortunately, Springtime can be scamming time when it comes to home improvements”

Follow the New York Department of State on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for “Tuesday’s Tips” – Practical Tips to Educate and Empower New York Consumers on a Variety of Topics

For this week’s “Tuesday’s Tips,” the New York Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection shares tips to prevent home improvement scams. Home improvement scams have consistently ranked among New Yorkers’ top five consumer complaints. As we head into Spring, New Yorkers may be considering making improvements around their homes, however contractor fraud and home improvement scams can cost homeowners thousands of dollars and leave them with poor workmanship or unfinished projects.

Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez said, “Unfortunately, Springtime can be scamming time when it comes to home improvements. Imagine having work done on your house only to find out the “improvements” actually made the problems worse because of shoddy work or someone ran off with your money without finishing the job. Before agreeing to home improvement projects, I urge you to learn how to avoid costly mistakes with tips from our Consumer Protection Division.”

Before you decide on a contractor, consider the following list of tips to avoid common home improvement scams.

1. Shop around: Get at least three estimates that include detailed information about materials, services to be provided and a projected timeline.
2. Know who you hire: Ask friends and neighbors to recommend contractors they have worked with. Check the references provided by the contractors. Look into local home builder associations that may recommend reputable contractors and provide support if there is a dispute.
3. Check your local government licensing requirements: NYS does not license home improvement contractors, but some counties and local municipalities do. Look into what is required in your area and be sure the contractor has proper licensure and has insurance.
4. Get it in writing and be sure the contract includes:

• The contractors’ name, address, and phone number
• Estimated timeline with start and finish date
• Detailed description of the work to be completed
• Detailed pricing that includes a list of supplies and labor costs
• Scammers will knock on your door suggesting improvements they can help you with like new windows or the latest solar panels. Some may claim to be in the area and to have materials left over from a previous job.
• Scammers will pressure you for an immediate decision.
• Scammers will recommend a lender they know to help pay for the job. Don’t finance through your contractor.

1. Know your rights: You have three days to cancel after signing a contract for home improvements. All cancellations must be in writing.
2. Never pay full price up front: Establish a payment schedule tied to completing specific jobs. Don’t pay with cash or wire transfer. Withhold final payment until the entire project is completed to your satisfaction.
3. Beware:

1. Running into a problem? First, speak with the contractor and try to reach a resolution. If a resolution is not possible, file a complaint with your local consumer protection agency, the New York State Division of Consumer Protection at https://dos.ny.gov/consumer-protection or the New York State Attorney General at https://ag.ny.gov/file-complaint. 
2. For more tips, check out our comprehensive guide designed to help homeowners avoid home improvement scams.

About the New York State Division of Consumer Protection

The New York State Division of Consumer Protection provides resources and education materials to consumers on product safety, as well as voluntary mediation services between consumers and businesses. The Consumer Assistance Helpline 1-800-697-1220 is available Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm, excluding State Holidays, and consumer complaints can be filed at any time at www.dos.ny.gov/consumer-protection.

For more consumer protection tips, follow the Division on social media at Twitter: @NYSConsumer and Facebook: www.facebook.com/nysconsumer

Community Board 11 Public Hearing on the Metro North Rezoning Proposal

 

There were over one-hundred people in attendence or online for the Public Hearing by Bronx Community Board 11 on the proposed Upzoning around the new Morris Park and Van Nest/Parkchester Metro North stations. The Upzoning could bring as much as  7,500 new housing units, but Paul Phillips of the Department of City Planning and Ted Weinstein of the Housing and Preservation Department Bronx office said  that that number is only an estimate, and the number could be less depending on how developers build in response to the many people who were worried about the areas around the two stations being overdeveloped. 

Almost the entire rezoning will take place in CB 11, except a small area next to Parkchester in Bronx Community Board 9. City Planning wants higher density near the two stations as a building of 18 stories with 2083 units of housing is one of several high rise buildings that could have over 3,000 units of housing by the Van Nest/Parkchester station. For the Morris Park station, a town center with high rise buildings of unknown heights will be placed next to this station that will feature stores on the first level and residences on the upper floors with City Planning removing any parking restriction it will be up to the developers to build any parking. There are also two building of the height of 21 stories to be built on the Jacobi Hospital parking lot for Life Sciences. One building for Montefiore Hospital and the other for Jacobi Hospital. It is unknown how tall any other buildings will be, but residents living next to a proposed 12 story building that is next to one family homes at the back entrance to Jacobi Hopital were concerned about the height of the building where a one story building currently sits.   

City Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato was on hand to reassure the audience that she will work with City Planning and will listen to the concerns that were brought up in the public hearing when negotiations with City Planning are held.  

CB 11 held a special Leadership Committee meeting Tuesday night to come up with a resolution for its Thursday night full board meeting to give City Planning its response to the rezoning. 

The current area where the Morris Park Metro North station will be. 

The proposed new Metro Norths station and town center with buildings of unknown heights. 

Ms. Lori Peterson voiced her concerns about a proposed 12 story building right next to one family homes where she lives. 

Rich Vitacco of the East Bronx History Forum speaks about the low density of the area and what high rise building will do to the quality of life in Van Nest.

Mr. Baez, a resident of Van Nest spoke about the narrow streets of Van Nest and the floods that now occur when it rains due to the lack of the sewer system to take away the rain water. 

Mr. Ted Weinstein of HPD (right) and Mr. Paul Phillips of City Planning (left) try to assure the audience that the Metro North proposal will not adversely affect the communities, as Mr. Phillips of City Planning compared this to the Jerome Avenue rezoning.   

Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato who lives in the affected rezoning area, lets the audience know that she is with the community and will negotiate the best possible solution to get what the community wants.