The Magnolia Tree Earth Center has recieved a $20,000 grant from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
The Center started more than 40 years ago, and has served as a community center as well as protected New York City’s last living landmark: an over-40-foot-tall Magnolia grandiflora that has resided on Lafayette Avenue for more than 140 years.
Founded in 1972 by “the tree lady” of Brooklyn, Hattie Carthan, the Center promotes environmental education and advocacy among the borough’s young people while continuing to champion the environmental stewardship upon which the center was founded.
To help save the center, Reynoso was joined by Magnolia Tree Earth Center Chair Wayne Devonish, NYC Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Laurie Cumbo, Council Member Chi Ossé, Assembly Member Stefani Zinerman, to announce the $20,000 grant from the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President on July 12.
The Center needs $350,000 to pay for urgently required repairs to the front facade of all three of the brownstones facing Herbert Von King Park.
“Hattie Carthan recognized that taking care of our environment was a collective act of love for one another and the neighborhoods we call home,” said Reynoso. “This isn’t just about Hattie’s legacy of environmentalism, it’s also about what drove her advocacy: community power, nature as a force for the education of our young people, and our right to breathe clean air, find solace on a hot summer day, and walk streets lined with the same beauty that sits in the soul of Brooklyn. If we all pitch in, we can deliver on Hattie’s vision for our borough and help Magnolia Tree reach its full potential.”
The tree and the brownstones behind it achieved landmark designation in 1970 after Carthan learned that the brownstones that kept the Magnolia warm, out of the wind would be razed to make room for a parking lot and new apartments. Rarely found north of Philadelphia, the harsh winds and cold winters of New York are unlikely conditions in which the tree can typically survive. Carthan was quoted a $20,000 price tag to build a wall to attempt to protect the tree from these northern elements.
She later told the New York Times, “Well, nobody had $20,000 — this is not an affluent community. We did think if we could raise $5,000 or so, at the same time educating our children to the value of that tree and all trees, perhaps somebody would help us with the rest of the money.”
Carthan and the community soon raised $7,000, which the Horticultural Society in New York matched to the dollar. By 1976, the plans to redevelop the block had changed and Carthan was able to negotiate the purchase of the Lafayette Avenue brownstones, where she then opened the Magnolia Tree Earth Center that are at risk once again.
"The Magnolia Tree Earth Center is a treasure for the community of Bed-Stuy, a place that embodies the pioneering spirit of service and environmental stewardship of Hattie Carthan," said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo.
"I applaud Borough President Reynoso's donation and call to action for New Yorkers to help save this important institution. Too many of our important community assets are at risk in our city - particularly those rooted in communities of color - so now is the time to step up and let everyone know how important the Magnolia Tree Earth Center is to New York City!"
