Gated-Off Midtown Garden Opens For First Time In Decades

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Decades after it was first fenced off, the garden at St. Vartan Park in Murray Hill was opened to the public on Friday following months of advocacy from neighbors.

The gates swung open Friday morning at the small garden, which occupies the east end of the park along First Avenue between East 35th and 36th streets. It marks the beginning of a two-month trial opening planned by the Parks Department.

Since 2000, the garden had been the exclusive domain of St. Vartan Preschool, a fee-based institution whose control over the space had been sanctioned by the city. Its founder, Stefanie Soichet, had spent years cultivating the garden, planting tulips and maintaining its trees and rose bushes — and remained steadfastly opposed to opening it up for public use.

"It's just a handful of pushy people who want to be on the grass, and I'm worried for the grass," Soichet told Patch last month.

Neighbors, meanwhile, contended that the garden was a "bastion of inequity," pointing out that the preschool was inaccessible for many working families since it requires parents to accompany their children.

Moreover, they said, Murray Hill is badly starved for green space, making the gated-off arrangement unsustainable. (In any case, the garden had been off-limits long before the preschool was established — Curbed recently reportedthat the gates may have been in place since 1904, when St. Vartan Park was built.)

Friday's opening was attended by Parks Department staff and members of Community Board 6, who had pushed for the public access.

"Let's spread the word: This open space is now open to all," CB6 parks committee chair Kevin O'Keefe wrote in a tweet.

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Previous coverage: Midtown Garden Reopens To Public After School's 20-Year Takeover