By Elizabeth O’Brien
Six years ago, Sal Mendolia was a drug addict shooting up in a rundown community garden on the Lower East Side. Today, a drug-free Mendolia tends the newly renovated All People’s Garden before heading off to work.
On Tuesday, the All People’s Garden celebrated its grand re-opening after a two-year, $50,000 renovation. At the ceremony, Mendolia, 45, read a poem about his journey from overdosing in a corner of the garden, located on E. 3rd St. between Avenues C and D, to being one of its trusted guardians.
Mendolia credited Orlean For, founder and director of the All People’s Garden, for helping to give his life direction. From the garden’s first opening in 1979, For, 83, stood up to the drug users and dealers in the park. She also gave some, like Mendolia, the firm but kind guidance that they craved.
“He was a very lonely person,” For said of Mendolia. “He can tell you the rest.”
“I would walk by and, you know, she’s like a stern woman,” Mendolia said of his early encounters with For, when she warned him about the dangers of drug use. “She said, ‘Son, you’re going to die.’”
For offered Mendolia work in the garden, and that began Mendolia’s healing process. He said that the seasonal rejuvenation of the garden inspired him.
“Being I was a drug addict, I saw something desolate turned into something beautiful, I thought that something like that can happen to me,” Mendolia said.
As Mendolia turned his life around, the garden underwent an extensive renovation that included the rebuilding of brick pathways, substantial new planting, and the addition of a mural, garden furniture and a new gazebo. The Evan Frankel Foundation of East Hampton funded the renovations through a grant to the Council on the Environment’s Plant-A-Lot Project.
Community members cheered their fresh new space on Tuesday.
“Gardens bring a certain energy to the community — it’s where people come together,” said Herman Hewitt, chairperson of the All People’s Garden.
The garden is owned by the Trust For Public Land, a national nonprofit organization that bought 62 community gardens from the city in 1999 to save them from going to the auction block under then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Next year, the Trust will begin the process of transferring the land to one of its local branches, the Manhattan Land Trust. This ensures that the All People’s Garden will remain a green space for the community to enjoy, instead of falling prey to the relentless pressures of the Manhattan real estate market.
Although the garden’s future seems secure, For, who once faced down drug dealers who pulled a gun on her, is not ready to stop her work there.
“I love it,” For said. “It really gives me strength.”
