Rob Faludi

New York doesn’t have the same kind of great outdoors that you’d find in or near other cities. Instead there’s a motley collection of concrete playgrounds and corporate plazas, interspersed with vest-pocket parks of all kinds. I grew up near the East Village back before the cafes and art galleries. Back then the buildings didn’t have windows, just smoke stains rising from vacant or bricked-over openings. Last weekend we took a walk into the depths of the former Alphabet City and discovered what seems like hundreds of little community gardens. Each one started life as the rubble of an arson reduced tenement. Over the years, the city has dubbed many as official parks and there are currently about 75 of these semi-natural reservations dotting the neighborhood. We didn’t have a map at the time, but found ourselves easily wandering from one unique park to another without needing one.
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