Flowers for Bed Stuy
Thanks to Bed Stuy Blog for flagging this: There’s a great initiative underway to blanket neglected portions of Bedford Stuyvesant in wildflowers. A group called 21st Century Plowshare is preparing a guerilla campaign to heave seed bombs into empty lots, abandoned buildings sites and whatnot. We’re so into the idea, we just donated $100. They…
Thanks to Bed Stuy Blog for flagging this: There’s a great initiative underway to blanket neglected portions of Bedford Stuyvesant in wildflowers. A group called 21st Century Plowshare is preparing a guerilla campaign to heave seed bombs into empty lots, abandoned buildings sites and whatnot. We’re so into the idea, we just donated $100. They only need $2,000 and are accepting gifts of as little as $10; they also need volunteers for seed-bombing missions, so check out the website here.
you all make good points. it’s not my cup of tea tho. i choose to live in nyc because i dont WANT to be around flowers and plants and nature. but i guess it’s better than broken glass and stuff. it will probably just turn into a giant doggy turd magnet tho, so someone will have to maintain it.
*rob*
nokilissa is right. ‘cute’ is an oversimplification of the greater effects these efforts have. the exerpt from The Tipping Point about the Broken Windows phenonmenon apply here, in reverse hopefully.
Nokilissa pretty much summed it up.
Of course BS needs tangible answers to problems, and flower bombs are not real solutions, but I think it’s a great idea. Flowers anywhere are a good thing, and who knows, could be a catylist for better changes to come. It’s a low cost project that could bring some joy to some pretty joyless places this summer.
one word: allergies
i have mixed feelings about this. im not even going to bother to elaborate.. but i guess if the community finds it a good thing and it’s good for the community in the long run, then that’s a good thing.
*rob*
Seed bombs are how the community garden movement started in the early 70s. Those folks invested time and effort in neglected areas and abandoned lots when no one else would, and the community organizations that grew up around the gardens helped reclaim and revitalize many neighborhoods.
Thank you Mister B. I’m donating.
And this is more than a cute idea – the kind of thing that seems quaint in a rather naive and “why not?” way. It is actually emotionally and psychologically very powerful to transform hopelessly awful, ugly, trashed, apparently abandoned and decrepit areas into something green, hopeful and even minimally cared about.
It’ll be interesting to watch/follow this.
what a sweet idea. Very cute.
Excellent idea. I can think of a few other neighborhoods that could do with this treatment.