☞ READ: A Woman & Garden Transforms a Block

There's an amazing article today on Maggie Burnett in the Wall Street Journal that shows how an average citizen can change a neighborhood. Ms. Burnett is a West Harlem resident that cleaned the garbage out of vacant lot in 1980's and transformed her block just east of Broadway on 149th Street.  Drug dealers ruled the corner then and homicides had been happening weekly in the immediate area.  They threatened the gardener and wanted her out but that did not stop the determined woman. Vegetables soon appeared along with a rooster and hen that showed up miraculously.

By the 90's, things were looking up for the modest garden except that the city had an initiative to sell off open lots to developers.  So who saves the day? Non other than Bette Middler literally shows up and her organization eventually donated the funds to design the garden into an official community green space:LINK. Photo by Natalie Keyssar