West Side Community Garden

Celebrate with us and help us fulfill our mission to the community

in our beautiful Garden Party 123 West 89th Street –
located mid-block between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenue, New York City.

Taste our fabulous international buffet of fine foods and wines
from local restaurants and purveyors of fine food.

Join us to honor Eric Schneiderman, New York State Senator, the Lower East Side Ecology Center, and Dr. Scott Gaynor, head of the Gaynor School on West 90th Street.

And  special tribute to our founder Dee Parisi who passed away last fall.

Tickets are $60, and checks may be sent to West Side Community Garden, PO Box 20301, Park West Station, New York, NY 10025 . To pay Electronically click on the NY Charities button on this web site, before June 5. the West Side Community garden is a  Not-For-Profit New York corporation and all donations are exempt to the full extent allowable by law.
For further  information call Mira Stulman at 212 875 0632

Summer Concert Series: Music in a Garden 2010

Sundays in June & July

June 13, 2010 – 4pm
Mary Cherney & David Nadal (Flute/Guitar Duo)
June 20, 2010 – 6pm
Bill Saxton (Jazz Quintet)
June 27, 2010 – 6pm
Sweet Plantain (Latin Classical String Quartet)
July 11, 2010 – 6pm
Community Sing-Along (Pop and Folk Songs)
July 18, 2010 – 4pm
Geoff Burke Trio (Jazz)
July 25, 2010 – 6pm
Tom Thies and Friends (Viola da Gamba, Bassoon, Portative Organ)

This project is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

West Side Community Garden Annual Tulip Festival

Saturday, April 24, 2010 – Sunday, April 25, 2010, 1-4pm

Celebrate Spring on the Upper West Side! Enjoy a blaze of Spring tulips at our Annual Tulip Festival, All are welcome. Free Admission.

We are celebrating our 22nd year of tulips in bloom. You are invited to visit the beautiful West Side Community Garden while the tulips are in full color!

In addition, during the month of April we invite one and all to bring a camera to the garden, capture the beauty, and enter our first annual Tulip Photo Contest 2010.

For festival information, please contact:
Mira S. at 212-875-0632 (day) or
Jackie B. at 212-316-5490 (evening).

And the Winner is….–Tulip Photo Contest 2010

Congratulations goes to…

Ellie Nagler (aka Photogirl2010) for her winning photograph (left)!

Ellie’s work was presented to this year’s individuals honored at the Annual West Side Community Garden Benefit in June.

Honorable mentions goes to our four semi finalists:

Boris Gorelik, L Cheng, Bill Swersey (aka Swerz) and Brandon Remler (aka nycphotog2008).

Thank you to everyone who participated.

Thank you to All! –Tulip Photo Contest 2010

Many thanks to all of you who have submitted such amazing photographs showcasing the 2010 West Side Community Garden Tulip Festival.

As you can imagine, with over 578 submissions from 64 members, it has been tough to select the final winners.

Currently, the semi-finalists have been selected and winners will be notified via Flickrmail shortly. Please check your Flickr account soon for notifications.

Thank you for participating in and making our first West Side Community Garden Tulip Festival photo contest a success!

Sincerely,

West Side Community Garden Tulip Festival Committee

April in the Garden - Tulip Photo Contest 2010

Throughout the month of April, we invite you to bring your camera, capture your favorites and enter them in our community photo contest.

Winners will be announced following our festival weekend.

First Prize: The winning photographer will receive a ticket to this year’s West Side Community Garden Annual Benefit in June.

In addition, the photo will be our featured image in next year’s festival promotional material.

Submit your favorite images to our tulip festival Flickr group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/wscgtulipfestival

Remember to add the date and your initials to your file name prior to submission/posting.

Note: If you do not already have one, you will need to set up a flickr account (free) to to submit your photos

Saturday, November 14, 10 am –  5 pm
Sunday, November 15, 11 am until dark

Everyone is welcome, all ages, at this community planting festival, trowels and shovels are provided, bring gloves and dress warmly. There will be a brunch/Turkey lunch for the workers on both planting days. Planting will be in the garden West 89th Street, West 90th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenue. For more information call Tom Thies 212 369 6183, Jackie at 212 316 5490 or email westsidecommunity@gardener.com

Also needed, People to help with food- Chili, cookies, cakes, pies, welcome

THIS WEEKEND SATURDAY NOV 7, 11AM-4PM there will be a preplanting cleanup. Perennials must be marked or removed, leaves raked,  toolshed cleared out, and compost turned.

There also will be a preplanting tulip sorting party  Thursday November 12 on West 94th Street 10 am-4pm. Call Tom Thies for more information. Everyone is welcome for all activities.

Sept. 12 & 13 11 am -5 pm

The Annual Arts and Crafts Festival Saturday will include a children’s crafts workshop at 11 am, and Director Morna Martell with the Dramatune theater company returns at 1 pm to reprise the “play within play” from this season’s “Mini Midsummer’s Nights Dream.”

The Sunday program features Greg Lorenz in a song recital with a Lute player and piano from 1-2 pm. The Vivian Sansom Reading series at 2 pm will again feature writers from our local New York City community. Howard Pflanzer, Victoria Sullivan, Rosalie Calabrese and other writers will be featured, and we have a new story from the Sansom archives!

There will be a reception for the artists and writers at 4 pm and Steven Jacobson and with the New York String Orchestra will serenade us between 4:30-5:30 pm.

There will be a Book Sale both days.

The fierce 70 mph wind storm that blew through the upper west side of Manhattan the night of August 18, 2009, took out the big Sophora Japonica tree over the pavilion at the midpoint in the Garden and heavily damaged the other Sophora Tree. Also heavily damaged was the big Persimmon tree by the Children’s garden on 90th Street. Hundreds of trees were damaged in the storm corridor between 90th and 104th Street in Riverside and Central Park as well as on Randall’s Island.

The Garden’s downed Sophora tree was removed August 19, by Stuart Goldstein of A & S Tree Service. The remaining Sophora Tree is listing and may need to be removed.

The two Sophora trees, also known as “Japanese Scholar Trees,” are in the pea or legume family. They were in the original Garden, which was founded in 1975 and were preserved during the 1987-88 construction of the permanent West Side Community Garden site. Generations of Gardeners enjoyed their lovely height and light shade.

Download the Fall 2009 Newsletter as PDF

Sun July 19, Sat/Sun through Sin. Aug 9 at 5 pm
(All performances are at 5 pm, except the opening which is at 6 pm)
This year’s free Shakespeare festival for children welcomes back a reprise of last year’s successful run of a “Mini-Midsummer’s Nights Dream” adapted from William Shakespeare and directed by Morna Martell, with music by Ralph Martell.
Although this is billed as a children’s show, it is enjoyed by folks of all ages. All children attending are invited to join Puck’s merry Band during the performances to help cast a wider spell.
The professionally mounted production features Sarah Bolger returning as Puck, joined by Ellen Boyce as Helena, Carl Fortunato as Duke Theseus, Francesca Fortunato as Titania, John Paul Harkins as Oberon, Alex Harper as Snug and the Lion, Zelda Knapp as Bernla, the unforgettable Barry Leibman as Flute/Thisbe, and David Lutzer will again don his Donkey head to play Bottom./Pyramis, Charlie MacAndrew plays Snout/ the Wall, Randi Sobol Raiti/Quince, Dan Wuerdeman, the Starvling/Moon, and Brian Gerard Murray appears as Demetrius.
All performances are free, and will be presented in our Floral Amphitheater by the 89th Street entrance.
Garden Book Sales Sundays 2-4:30 pm,
Stop by early and browse the books. Priced to sell , hard cover books from $1 to $2, and paperbacks ( always better on the train) are just 50 cents, or three for a dollar .

Next up in our free summer concert series at the West Side Community Garden this Sunday is a family program by The New York Consort of Viols, featuring soprano Kristin Gould with appearances by Green Man and Shlumpy the Clown.

Note the slightly earlier time for this weekend’s concert, 5 PM.

In the event of rain, the concert will be relocated to the Stephen Gaynor School, 148 West 90th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, just down the block from the garden.

Our remaining schedule:

JUNE 28 New York Consort of Viols – Renaissance music, with a children’s slant, 5 pm

JULY 5 Geoff Burke  – Bebop alto sax master and friends, 6 pm

JULY 12 Sweet Plantain – Classical Latin String Quartet that is tight and skillful, 6 pm

JULY 19 Community Sing-Along – Jackie Bukowski and her Met Opera friends lead us all in song, 6:30 pm

If you missed last week’s concert, here are some photos:

Our free “Music in a Garden” summer concert series continues this Saturday, June 21 at 6 PM.

Andre O’Neil will play J.S. Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello #3 and #6 on an authentic baroque instrument.  Please join us for what promises to be a special evening.

As always, all our concerts are free and open to the public.  The remaining schedule is as follows:

JUNE 21 Andre O’Neil  – plays 2 Bach Unaccompanied Suites on Baroque Cello, 6 pm

JUNE 28 New York Consort of Viols – Renaissance music, with a children’s slant, 5 pm

JULY 5 Geoff Burke  – Bebop alto sax master and friends, 6 pm

JULY 12 Sweet Plantain – Classical Latin String Quartet that is tight and skillful, 6 pm

JULY 19 Community Sing-Along – Jackie Bukowski and her Met Opera friends lead us all in song, 6:30 pm