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September 17, 2007
Counter Horticulture
Jon Crow, longtime gardener at Bear's Garden, tells us that the garish light-up signs on what is now known as Site V of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan were initially considered "an insult" to the garden's environment. Forest City Ratner aimed the "ugly butt-end of the building," with its signature oversized retail signs, toward the garden.
According to Crow, gardener Edie Stone came up with a solution. The garden planted "the Boston ivy, considered good-neighbor ivy, to create a green wall," which is ironic, since Forest City has probably never been accused of being a good neighbor.
This counter-horticultural action was deployed in the wake of a bizarre legal scuffle, as Forest City Ratner attempted to impose limitations on the height of plantings, including trees, in front of the signage. These restrictions were eliminated once they were proven to be unenforceable due to the simple law of nature that requires trees to grow upward.
Forest City used to complain about the ivy, but the complaints stopped a few years ago, which we can only imagine had something to do with the fact that Ratner intended to raze the low-rise "place holder" buildings to make way for a high-rise to be part of its Atlantic Yards plan.
Photo by Tracy Collins from the Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
For info on how these Ratner-owned buildings have been determined to be "blighted," click here.
UPDATE: Jon Crow tells us that, somehow, during the past few days, Modells got into the garden and cleared the ivy from their sign. Touché Modells!
Posted by lumi at September 17, 2007 11:58 AM