October Hello and Updates
Ring of Fire and Fresh Red Roses
Happy October :) Good afternoon, everyone. <3 I hope you’re feeling good today. What are you up to? I’m sitting at the table, singing along with one of my favorite Autumnal albums, waiting for a Zoom workshop to begin. I have a mug of hot black tea, vases of red, orange, and yellow flowers, the window is open with a cool breeze lighting the room. The sky is cloudy, but it still feels like a fresh day. I feel a lot of love in my heart and I feel grateful today - I’m grateful for this cup of hot tea, these fresh and aromatic flowers, for my boyfriend and his kindness and intelligence, for learning and writing. I’m grateful for the ability to play music when I am feeling intense emotions, for writing to process through them, for this community to share with you all. Today feels like a good day for reflection and observation, and also a day for Action. Yesterday was the Annual Solar Eclipse, the ‘Ring of Fire,’ a day of new beginnings.
‘During a Solar Eclipse, the Sun is partially or totally covered by the Moon, which appears to be the same size from our perspective thanks to the precise alignment of the luminaries and the Earth. In Annular Solar Eclipses, the Sun gets almost completely covered, with the exception of a ring of light surrounding the Moon. The “ring of fire” around the Moon reminds us that, even in moments of darkness, light is still present, and still finds a way to shine through.’
What does this make you feel and think about?
I wasn’t able to send out my Substack earlier this week, so I wanted to say hello today and also give you an update on the Elizabeth Street Garden, as so many of you have followed along with the story and our fight to save it over the many years, especially in the recent months as things have been amplified exponentially with every passing day.
Yesterday, on the 'Ring of Fire’ day, the City served its formal eviction notice. It was a day we were anticipating, though we were also holding hope for a different win-win path to be followed through with in collaboration with the city. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, though we have more options we are exploring and we have not given up yet. Here is yesterday’s official update:
The City has served the anticipated eviction notice.
While we have been expecting the notice to be served, we are very disappointed that @nycmayor and Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer have refused to hold off on the eviction despite ongoing negotiations and thousands of letters from the public demanding they save the garden.
We have directly communicated with Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer in good faith about our work with Councilmember Christopher Marte’s office to locate more options for affordable housing at private sites in the district. This is an effort to add to the existing proposal that preserves the garden in its entirety and provides more affordable units at city-owned sites.
The private site proposal identifies multiple sites, some of which are just a few blocks away from the garden, that could each provide more than 123 units of affordable housing for seniors along with additional housing. The Mayor was given this proposal directly and visited one of these sites just after visiting the Garden on Tuesday, September 24.
Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer are well aware that they can hold off on any eviction in order to work with us on both the public and private site proposals. At this point, they have chosen not to seriously consider a true win-win-win solution where there is no loss to the community.
Now that the eviction has been served, we have 14 days. We continue to work with our legal team to address the eviction. Please stay tuned in for further updates.
We have not given up hope and we have not stopped working for a moment. Please join us with your action, optimism, hope, and Fire. <3
Here are some links in case you are interested in staying informed and updated as each day progresses forward:
Elizabeth Street Garden Instagram
Win-Win Proposal Given to the Mayor
T-shirts, Sweatshirts, and Tote Bags Made by Kin Ship Goods
Thank you so very much for your continued compassion and support. :)
What does the Ring of Fire and this coexistence of dark/light make you think of? A Solar Eclipse is like 100 New Moons, such a powerful energy for starting fresh, for new beginnings, for shedding old ways, letting go of old habits. A bran new day. A true moment for starting a new cycle of life. How will you start a new cycle today?
If you haven’t already, there are some writing/reflection/journaling exercises in my previous post surrounding changes. It might be a nice time to visit or revisit these questions if you have some time today or this weekend. :)
Sending good energy to you all and looking forward to any of your thoughts and anything you would like to share.
Ps: Thank you for the Johnny Cash. When my eldest son (now grown) was little, he loved that song. He would spin round and round while Johnny Cash sang, “I fell into a burning ring of fire/ Went down down down/ and the flames went higher,” and then my son would deliberately fall down. It brings back so many memories to hear it now.
Trailing behind...but here:) That seems to be the story of my week, the solar eclipse seems to have taken a lot out of me for some reason, but I will bounce back:)
Like many other people I am hoping the garden will have a magical victory. I want to try and do my podcast from there this coming Sunday.
Beautiful flowers!
I used to hear Johnny Cash a lot growing up, my mother and father were big fans. Try to imagine 'Johnny Cash Live From San Quentin' playing in a house in a little fishing village in Scotland lol.
Incidentally, Ring of Fire was also a great movie!