CROWN HEIGHTS — They may not have to pull up roots after all.
After months of fighting in court, a Brooklyn judge threw out an eviction case against members of a Crown Heights community garden this week.
The Roger That Garden on Rogers Avenue and Park Place has been in and out of court since June when the owners of the lot at 115 Rogers Ave., TYC Realty, began proceedings to kick out gardeners who have planted and maintained the vacant property since 2011, garden members said.
In a written dismissal made on Monday, Brooklyn civil court judge Devin Cohen ordered the “matter dismissed” after TYC’s legal team could not produce sufficient evidence to prove they served the eviction papers to the gardeners correctly, advocates said.
When contacted by DNAinfo New York by phone about the case, a representative from TYC refused to answer questions and abruptly ended the call.
The gardeners’ attorney, Paula Segal of 596 Acres, said the dismissal may not permanently end TYC's efforts to remove the garden — the company could start another eviction case at any time, she said — but it gives a reprieve to Roger That Garden members who have spent a lot of time at court appearances since hearing of the eviction this summer.
The long-term future of the garden is unclear. In April, TYC submitted construction plans to the city to build a four-story building on the lot, which were disapproved by the Department of Buildings in October, records show. The property also has $214,000 in tax liens attached to it, including more than $9,200 filed after TYC took ownership of the Rogers Avenue corner lot in 2013, according to property records.
“They haven’t paid their taxes, they haven’t paid down any of the liens … it seems like, right now, the garden is the least of their setbacks in terms of getting anything done on that property,” said gardener and area resident David Vigil, who attended Monday’s court proceeding.
This is the second legal victory for a community garden in the area within a week. Last week, a judge ruled that the current deed for the nearby Maple Street Community Garden property in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is "dubious" and questioned the ownership of the lot by two brothers previously convicted of filing false deeds who have claimed to own the property.
