January 2008 Newsletter

M A D I S O N 3
The Official Newsletter of the Madison Street 3 Block Association January 2008

A Year of Accomplishments

Madison Street #3—that’s the official name of our block between Bedford and Nostrand—begins the year 2008 by looking back at a 2007 filled with accomplishments that we can all be proud of. Here are some of the highlights.

Monthly Block Association Meetings

The Madison Street #3 Block Association met monthly at the Bedford Stuyvesant YMCA. Meetings were generally well attended and enthusiastic discussion took place on a wide range of issues of importance to our community. Officers were elected, bylaws were adopted, and members contributed dues in impressive numbers.

Sizzling Hot Block Party

Neighbors turned out in force on July 14, 2007 for the Madison Street #3 Block Party. Family, friends, food, and games were the hallmarks of this highly successful event—along with music, music, music as we moved to the beat of 3-count-‘em-3 DJs up and down the block! Many thanks to Keisha and Ms. Gloria for making it happen.

Community Garden Party

The grill was sizzling on August 5th in the Stars of Hope Community Garden at 213 Madison Street. Block association member Jason Schneiderman flipped the burgers and turned the hot dogs as friends and family flocked to the garden for good food, lively conversation, and live jazz in the beautiful peace and tranquility of the garden.

Halloween Party & Candy Give Away

The ghouls, ghosts, and goblins haunted the Stars of Hope Community Garden on Wednesday October 31, 2007 where block association volunteers gave out candy donated by block association members.

How Does Our Garden Grow?
A Little Background on the Stars of Hope Community Garden

You probably know there is a community garden at 213 Madison Street, on the north side of the block near the corner of Nostrand Avenue. But you may not know how it got there, who makes it grown, or how you can get involved. Want to learn more about the garden? Read on!

How Did the Garden Get There?

The official name of the garden is the Stars of Hope Community Garden. Stars of Hope is a GreenThumb garden. That means the city owns the lot, and a Parks Department program called GreenThumb issues us a license to operate a garden there. Some long-term residents of the block may remember a time when the garden occupied three lots—211, 213, and 215 Madison Street. But it turned out that the lots at 211 and 215 were not protected by the law that keeps the developers away, so those lots have now been developed and the garden occupies the precious little sliver of our block at 213 Madison Street.

Who Makes It Grow?

The garden is tended by a group of gardeners who together make up the Stars of Hope Community Garden Group. There are about 6-10 active gardeners in the group, most of whom live on our block but some of whom live nearby. The garden is a community resource and anybody can join, regardless of where they live. The garden group is loosely organized, but we’d like to tighten our organization over the coming year.

How Can You Get Involved?

Anybody can get involved with the garden. The contact person for the garden is Michael Broder. If you want to get involved, you can call Michael at (718) 622-4080 or by email at mbroder@mbroder.com.

What Can I Do in the Garden?

As spring approaches, the garden group will be holding meetings to plan our activities for the coming year. We need to build more vegetable beds and flower beds, do more landscaping in the ornamental parts of the garden, erect a new fence, get some patio furniture in there to make the garden an inviting place for gardeners and visitors alike, and keep the garden open to the public for 10 hours a week, as GreenThumb requires. We also want to organize more community activities in the garden, like the barbecue and the Halloween candy giveaway we held in 2007. And of course, we need to do what we do best—grow beautiful flowers and delicious, nutritious fruits and vegetables. As a member of the garden, you can do any of these things—and more. So get involved today!

Madison Street #3 Block Association
Toya Williford, President
Maliza Joseph-Gabriel, Vice President
Andrew Robinson, Treasurer
Fran Krause, Secretary
Michael Broder, Assistant Secretary
Jason Schneiderman, Assistant Secretary
Block Association meetings take place on the first Saturday of every month at 6:00 PM at the YMCA on the corner of Monroe Street and Bedford Avenue.

Do you have news for the newsletter? Contact Michael Broder at 718-622-4080
Visit our blog at http://madisonblock.blogspot.com