EAST HARLEM—On East 110th Street at Fifth Avenue, a standoff is underway at the Nueva Esperanza Garden. Machinery moved in to begin development of the community garden and found, via OnNYTurf: "Gardeners have chained themselves to the garden and climbed trees... The city has essentially given away this land—probably one of the most valuble piece of real estate in New York City—to the developers Sidney Fetner Associates and Brickman Associates for building luxury condominiums. This 80 million dollar project has been deceptively described as a 'Museum of African Art' which has no collections and will house a few small rooms for lectures." Indeed, details about the planned museum are oddly lacking on the interweb (though there's some good discussion in this Curbed comment thread, and here's more about the threats to East Harlem community gardens). Who knows more? And more reports from the scene welcome to the tipline. [OnNYTurf]
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