Right behind the Citibank on LaGuardia Place and West Third Street is a small space in Washington Square Village dedicated to growing squash, peppers, cucumbers and Brussels sprouts — all tended by environmentally conscious NYU students.
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The Community Agriculture Club, a recent recipient of the President's Service Award, was the original brainchild of Gallatin alumni Zoe Abram and Rachel Greenspan. The club went on hiatus in 2009. Current president and CAS senior Christine Johnson said she decided to revive CommunityAg after hearing Jeremy Friedman speak during one of her sustainability class lectures. Friedman helped her get the club up and running again with the help of dedicated executive board members.
Aside from their yearlong commitment to caring for the garden at Washington Square Village, CommunityAg members have held a hot cider sale, dabbled in making organic pasta, attended workshops by the Lower East Side Ecology Center and volunteered at a local food market.
"We made pasta entirely from scratch," CAS sophomore and club treasurer Nicki Mokryzcki said. "It was green from the kale juices we boiled it in — fun and delish!"
In a letter commending the club for its Presidential Service Award, vice president for student affairs Marc Wais praised the club "for unwavering dedication to creating spaces on campus that improve community involvement and enhance the wellness of students, teachers and existing NYU community agriculture and engagement infrastructure."
Right now CommunityAg is working on placing baby plants into the community garden. The club is also looking forward to starting gardens in Carlyle Court's courtyard and perhaps even in Founders Hall's courtyard. Taking inspiration from other community garden initiatives near campus, the club intends to provide as many green spaces as possible for NYU students to enjoy.
"It's just very cool to walk through Alphabet City and see the green plots that are everywhere," said Lisa Rifikind, a Tisch freshman and dedicated club member.
