Kids' corn project chopped down on Upper East Side
Kids' corn project chopped down on Upper East Side
A group of young children in New York City were devastated after their months-old sidewalk corn stalks were mysteriously chopped down and thrown in the trash. Police are investigating the incident, while local officials confirmed the tree bed garden was completely legal.
NEW YORK - An autumn harvest project for a group of Upper East Side preschoolers ended in heartbreak after their hand-planted cornstalks were mysteriously chopped down and thrown in the trash.
What we know:
For the past five years, Mis Amiguitos, a family-run Spanish Montessori language program located at 84th Street and York Avenue, has used a sidewalk tree bed outside its building to teach toddlers aged three to five about nature and gardening, according to school officials.
After successfully raising pumpkins and sunflowers in previous years, the children planted corn in April and spent months watering and watching the stalks grow several feet high, school officials said.
With the harvest only a month away, teachers and students planned to paint the corn for fall decor and use it to make tamales together, according to school staff. The towering greenery had become a popular sight for neighbors, who frequently stopped to admire and photograph the sidewalk garden.
The excitement turned to tears when school staff arrived to discover the stalks had been chopped at the base and stuffed into a nearby trash receptacle. A school assistant was brought to tears upon finding the ruined crop, leaving the young children devastated after watching their hard work vanish overnight, school officials said.
The NYPD responded to the scene and filed an official report on the incident, according to police.
What they're saying:
Officials from the New York City Parks Department confirmed to FOX 5 N.Y. that they had no involvement in removing the plants and emphasized that cultivating crops in city tree beds is completely legal and actively encouraged.
What's next:
The NYPD and local authorities are continuing to look into who cut the corn down and why.
The Source: Information from FOX 5 N.Y. reporting and the NYPD.