Located on East Sixth Street, between Avenues A & B, the Creative Little Garden has been an oasis of tranquility in New York's East Village for 25 years. It's a "community backyard", maintained by volunteers from the surrounding neighborhood. There are no plots tended by individual gardeners – members collaborate on the landscaping of the whole park.

In the eighties and nineties, the driving force behind the garden was Francoise Cachelin. Francoise passed away in 2003, but we continue to take inspiration from this former member of the French Resistance and spirited advocate for the rights of downtown residents.

The garden is usually open to the public from around 11 AM until sundown, any day when there's no forecast of rain, from May through October. (Official, guaranteed hours are Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 pm.) Everyone is welcome to come in and hang out whenever the gate is open. It's a nice place to read, eat your lunch, work on your laptop or do anything else that doesn't make noise or leave a mess!

The Creative Little Garden operates under the jurisdiction of the NYC Parks Department, through the Greenthumb program, and we get some help with maintenance and construction from the NYC Council On The Environment. (Thank you, Tom & Lars!) We're funded, however, solely by contributions and dues paid by the members. There are no paid staff, but we do have expenses! We're a Not-For-Profit, so donations are tax-deductible. Membership dues are $20/year, and helping out with the gardening and maintenance is purely optional. We do it because it's rewarding and we like hanging out with our neighbors.

If you'd like to become a member, contact one of these four people, and we'll be happy to sign you up. 'See you in the garden!