A group of Brooklyn toddlers has been unexpectedly ousted from their cherished community garden, leaving many parents and educators outraged.
Youngsters from a high-end Red Hook educational institution have been barred from visiting a nearby community garden. The caretakers of the green space labeled the children a “liability,” and the school was unable to meet a proposed donation requirement, according to dismayed parents and school representatives.
Elite Minds Montessori, where the annual cost for an infant’s education can surpass $32,000, reported that they have been denied access to the Urban Meadow since the locks were changed in July. This decision has left parents feeling exasperated and that their children are being marginalized.
“The aim of New York City’s Community Garden program is to offer green spaces to the public, not to turn them into exclusive areas,” stated Andrea Marpillero Colomina. Her 3-year-old daughter, Rita, is among those affected by the garden’s lockdown.
As a class parent at the school, which accommodates children from 3 months to 5 years old, Marpillero Colomina argued that the liability concern raised by garden volunteers is insubstantial.
“It feels like the essence of community gardens is being eroded by those trying to exclude children simply because they can be noisy,” she remarked.
“It seems far-fetched to me that a bunch of toddlers would really be wreaking havoc in the garden. It’s not like they’re going in there and smoking weed.”
Urban Meadow on the corner of President and Van Brunt streets is run and funded by taxpayers under the city Parks Department’s GreenThumb program.
While plots at the space cost $40, the garden is open to the public throughout the year, though with limited hours during the winter. Still, the rules say volunteers are well within their rights to approve or deny requests for off-hour access.
Elite Minds, as well as local PS 58, had been permitted to use the space during off-hours during the past seven years so that the children’s little hands could explore the dirt, look for worms and enjoy the fresh air — a valuable asset that the Montessori school bought for an initial $200 price in 2019 and a recurring $100 every year since, school administrators said.
Administrators at Elite Minds last made a $100 payment to Urban Meadows in May 2024, which seemingly bought them another year before the locks were changed without warning 14 months later, school proponents said.
When the school questioned what caused the change, a garden board member said the kids had been deemed a “liability” by GreenThumb after some mischievous tots trampled across some crops, the Elite Minds backers said.
In another email, the member said the kids might be allowed back if the school agreed to establish parameters for where the kids could meander — while also suggesting that the school donate between $250 and $500, records viewed by The Post show.
Elite Minds never made the payment.
“It was so disappointing and hurtful to be locked out last year unexpectedly, and I remain so confused and upset that my youngest students have had no access, despite almost a year of parent and admin advocacy,” said Laurie Torres, Elite Minds’ executive director and founder, to The Post in a statement.
“We thought we were members of this community, but the way that the leadership, as well as Greenthumb, has acted and ignored us has really made it clear that our school (and other schools) are second-class citizens.”
While the volunteers can approve or deny requests for off-hour access, they have never been allowed to connect donations with access.
The Parks Department said it has since reached out to the group managing Urban Meadow to correct the issue after being contacted by The Post.
Urban Meadow did not respond to a Post request for comment.
A parent alleged that the caretakers never intended to let the children back into the space but instead planned to turn it into an “exclusive, private country club in the heart of Red Hook,” despite it being a public, taxpayer-funded amenity.
Parents alleged that the group was “discriminating” against the kids, some of whom had taken their first steps in the grass and had seen several classes celebrate their adorable graduation ceremonies, the parents say.
“It’s shocking. It really is truly surprising to me. Most people who would be in the business of helping set up a community park are inherently neighborhood-oriented, I would assume,” said Natalie Fratto, adding that the garden played a major role in picking Elite Minds for her 15-month-old daughter, Mia.
