If you nurture it, it will come.
Immigrants planted their own plants in Long Island City's community gardens, turning once-vibrant green spaces into piles strewn with beds, suitcases, and human feces.
Conditions at the Smiling Hogshead Ranch on Skillman Avenue have become so bad that the group was about to be repossessed by the MTA, which owns the property, due to the increasing number of immigrants living on the property.
But the owners of the Queens ranch say there is little they can do because migrants are pouring in from nearby overcrowded shelters and the property has no fences, gates or security. In fact, it is said that the MTA, as a major public institution, should do more.
“We're a small, volunteer-based organization. We can't provide 24/7 security. The MTA has police. We don't have the financial means to do something like that. We also don’t have the volunteer workforce to do it,” board member Ride Ojha told the Post.
When The Post visited the garden, located on the site of an abandoned Degnon Terminal Line, on Thursday night, nine migrants were huddled inside, including two trying to sleep in subzero temperatures. This included men.
The men, who are from Venezuela and Ecuador, often visit Smiling Hogshead Ranch after being turned away from the nearby Austell Place migrant shelter.
“We had strict opening and closing times, so we always came home too late,” one man told The Post in Spanish.
“We were working… We're working as much as we can. We're selling Coca-Cola and water on the street.”
They were each wrapped in a thin blanket and sitting on two of the three beds under the recliner, three of which are usually used by Peruvians.
A large number of suitcases, several bicycles, shopping cars, cooler boxes, and beer bottles were also scattered on the premises.
The next morning, 24 other migrants who had spent the night in the shelter appeared in the yard. With nowhere else to go, the men used this facility to cook their meals.
“You don't want to sit in the park here. It's not good for you or for anyone. You want to go to work, earn money and have a place to live,” Aly, 30, from Senegal, posted. told the paper.
The problem began when migrant shelters opened in August 2023, Ojha said, but worsened in May when Mayor Eric Adams began tightening 60-day shelter restrictions.
Desperate to get help from the MTA, the group's members made 57 calls to 311 to report encampments and illegal dumping, but most of the complaints were forwarded to Homeless Services, a service called Die. That's what it means.
Only once did the MTA take concrete action, Ojha said. In the spring, government agencies removed snow from a temporary shelter erected on the outskirts of the site, and at the same time accidentally demolished a stage the garden had built for an event.
This move has only pushed immigrants deeper into the garden. The kitchen area was occupied, garden beds were trampled and one corner was turned into a toilet.
The MTA has not confirmed whether the eviction threat was caused by the dung pile or the presence of immigrants.
The agency said it canceled the eviction after Smiling Hogshead Ranch agreed to post signs prohibiting burning, storing personal property and entering the gardens after dark.
“Due to the many health and safety concerns that exist at Smiling Hogshead Ranch, a private park located on property owned by the MTA Long Island Rail Road, the MTA requires the licensee to ensure that MTA and city officials “We will provide evidence if necessary,'' press secretary Meghan Keegan told the Post.
Ojha said the group was unaware of the good news when the Post reported on Friday, saying there were pessimistic signs that the problem would be resolved. The number of members at the school has plummeted over the past year.
When the newspaper visited on Thursday, the sandbox was covered with a carpet and two chairs, where Ahmedou, 40, and Ahmed, 24, were sitting enjoying hot tea.
Both Mauritanians said they had been in the Big Apple for “several months” and visited the gardens regularly.
“We are not criminals. We are peaceful people,” Ahmedou said in Spanish.
“If they send me back, okay, I have family and friends there. It's okay. We came to work.”
