Public Employee Press

Garden academy

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

A bronze statue of inventor Robert Fulton presides over triangular Fulton Park, where cherry trees bow heavy with blossoms and tulips and daffodils burst into vibrant shades of red and yellow.

“I dug out weeds that were 4 feet high, pruned tangled and overgrown shrubs and planted these tulips,” said Sirra Crippen, a New York City Parks Dept. Gardener. She admired the flame-red flowers encircling the 15-foot statue as an A train rumbled into the Utica Avenue station below.

Crippen, the president of Local 1507, works in Districts 3 and 4. Through an impromptu program she initiated, a garden academy of sorts, Crippen enlists the help of local science and art teachers and their students.

Students from area public schools plant bulbs and perennials, and get hands-on lessons in biology, ecology, art and life. Crippen, with help from P.S. 21 and 81, I.S. 349 and 347 and Boys and Girls High School, is transforming city parks in the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick neighborhoods of Brooklyn into colorful oases, one plant at a time.

Community roots
“Horticulture is science and artistry,” Crippen said as she led a dozen curious — and green-thumbed — 14-year-olds and their Boys and Girls High School biology teacher, Ms. Bryce, through the park. In the classroom last fall, these honor students learned about the root and reproductive systems of plants. Crippen contacted their principal and invited them outdoors to help her plant hundreds of bulbs in Fulton Park, located across from their school.

This spring the park came to life as bulbs bloomed in multicolored bouquets along the park’s walkways, which were confettied pink with cherry blossom petals. The students were amazed and proud of their gardening. Crippen hopes her two districts will get more funding to expand the agricultural program she has started.

Science teacher Ms. Bryce reviewed with her students the roles pollination and other biological processes play in making the garden grow. That day the teens worked with Crippen planting liorope that will sprout blue flowers in July.

“I wanted to get the young people involved in their community,” said Crippen. In Fulton Park, a Buddhist monk in scarlet robes and crimson Nike hoodie walked in contemplative silence amid the rows of lush tulips and fragrant dogwoods. A mother pushed her 3-year-old on a tricycle. And 12 high school freshmen beamed excitedly and laughed aloud, proud to have beautified their community with plants from the city Parks Dept. and guidance from their gardening mentor, Sirra Crippen.