PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kat Lafferty, Community Gardener and Environmentalist
2:22:21
ยท
162 sec
Kat Lafferty, a long-time resident of Hell's Kitchen and community gardener, testified about park issues, community gardens, and brush fire mitigation. She expressed support for proposed legislation and advocated for a comprehensive plan to document and protect New York City's park assets.
- Addressed the issue of sidewalk buckling in front of community gardens, stating it should not be the responsibility of community gardens to pay for repairs
- Supported the proposed legislation for brush fire mitigation
- Called for a 5-year plan to document NYC's park assets, including physical, cultural, and underground assets, to protect green spaces and infrastructure
Kat Lafferty
2:22:21
Good afternoon, council members.
2:22:23
Thank you for allowing sorry?
2:22:30
Do I have to press it?
2:22:36
Good afternoon, council members.
2:22:37
Thank you for allowing your constituents and representatives of nonprofits to be here to testify.
Vickie Paladino
2:22:45
My name
Kat Lafferty
2:22:45
is Katharine Kat Lafferty.
2:22:47
I'm a 25.5 year resident of Hell's Kitchen and a 1 year resident of Borom Hill, Brooklyn before that.
2:22:55
I am an avid community gardener and environmentalist.
2:22:59
I studied international relations as an undergrad.
2:23:02
I was when I was an undergrad, I worked at Greenpeace and helped to get curbside recycling recycling started in Washington DC in 1989, which started with newspaper pickup.
2:23:14
And for those of you who are too young, there was a time when cities did not have curbside recycling.
2:23:21
So park issues are very important to me.
2:23:23
I am a community gardener in one of the original Green Gorilla Parks, Hell's Kitchen I mean, Clinton the Clinton sorry.
2:23:30
One of the original Green Gorilla Community Gardens, which is the Clinton Community Garden on West 48th between 9th and 10th.
2:23:37
And I also work with a small but very committed group of trees tree stewards and community gardeners in house Kitchen Park, and we have programming for the, for for our community as well through the West 47th 48th Block Association.
2:23:56
So I am here today to address a couple of issues.
2:24:00
1 is sidewalk buckling in front of community gardens.
2:24:05
Secondly, and which I do not think should be, the responsibility of the community gardens to pay for.
2:24:14
Secondly, in terms of brush fire mitigation, I just wanna say that I am in favor of, the, legislation that you're proposing.
2:24:26
Oh, no.
2:24:28
But, lastly, I just wanna say that, that I believe that the mayor's office, the city council, and the governor of New York should come up with a 5 year plan to document New York City's parks assets, both physical and cultural, such as Keith Haring, murals, but also, the assets under the ground, which, can sometime impact park maintenance because we need to protect our green spaces and infrastructure that centuries, literally, of New Yorkers have worked to protect and preserve.
2:25:02
Thank you.