The Garden Path

Visionary Who Brought Blooming, Buzzing Profusion to Battery Park City Passes from the Scene

Battery Park City has lost the author of its efflorescence. Eric “T” Fleisher, the first director of horticulture for the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), who became a national leader in the field of sustainable, organic landscape care, died suddenly and unexpectedly of a stroke in mid-January.

T, as he was known, kept Battery Park City green and organic for more than 25 years – and for much of that time he lived in the neighborhood. His vision of organic soil maintenance was studied by professionals all over the world. Teams of international scientists would regularly troop through Battery Park City and end up in T’s domain at BPC Parks headquarters, where he talked about biodiversity and sustainable horticulture, and freely shared the recipe for his own special brew of “compost tea.” A leader in calling for the restoration and protection of natural resources, he deeply understood the science of soil health.

Tessa Huxley, the former executive director of Battery Park City’s parks said, “where does one begin when describing a close friend and colleague of decades? T started his work life at Battery Park City Parks in 1989, back when our offices were in the trailers and there were no buildings south of West Thames Street. We often described it as the Wild West. We made do with shipping containers for tool storage and tents for workshops. When we moved into the current space [at 75 Battery Place], T finally had room for his much-wanted soil lab and his amazing composting operation.”

This allowed Mr. Fleisher to invite the community to partner with what, at that time, was called the Parks Conservancy on what was then a radical idea: “that public parks and landscapes absolutely can be managed without toxic chemicals,” Ms. Huxley said. “Converting neighborhood food waste and our plant waste into an important soil amendment has always been a critical component of the sustainable landscape practices that we pioneered for public parks. The residents of Battery Park City have enjoyed the benefits of our work as a result. This success is critical to the long-term health of the neighborhood, our city, and the world.”

Ms. Huxley continued, “T, like all of the Parks Conservancy staff, was a hero on September 11, 2001. After he helped to evacuate thousands of people, he walked up to P.S. 3, where the local school children had been taken, to find his child. But then he convinced the school administrators to allow him to use the school’s telephone to call each and every staff member’s family to let them know we were all alive and safe, but staying on-site as first responders. This was huge.”

Noting that he was also a professional-grade musician who specialized in improvisation, Ms. Huxley added, “I think it is important to understand that T was always an ‘out of the box’ thinker. He was always sure that he could find a way to solve whatever challenge we were facing. He originally came to the ‘green world’ to support his music habit and then became equally enamored of plants and their critical role in making cities livable.”

Accepted in 2008 to the Loeb Fellowship program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Mr. Fleisher convinced the university to launch the Harvard Yard Soils Restoration Project, which eliminated the use of toxic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides from campus landscapes, aiming to build an organic nutrient cycling system in the soil by balancing microbial activity.

Mr. Fleisher later served as president of the Metro Hort Group, an association of professionals in the worlds of public and private horticulture, before founding F2 Environmental Design, with his wife, Andrea Filippone, who said, “everyone who was lucky enough to have known or worked with T will miss him deeply. I am committed to continuing the work and honoring T’s belief that teaching others about sustainable horticulture can heal our planet.”

Friends and colleagues from Battery Park City were unanimous in their praise of Mr. Fleisher. BPCA president Raju Mann said, “we last saw T at our holiday party just a few short months ago, full of the charm that made him so beloved in a community he helped build. His talents not only shaped the neighborhood’s parks, but also the dedicated staff with whom he served, as well as parks across the city and country that sought his expertise. While we’re saddened by his passing, we are also buoyed by his enduring legacy and the work he spent more than a quarter-century cultivating – making Battery Park City’s public spaces more beautiful and sustainable for generations to enjoy. Among all else, T was a longtime Battery Park City resident, an innovator, a scholar, a mentor, and a friend.”

Sarah Smedley, a horticulturist for the BPCA, said, “I first met T in the mailroom at Gateway, where we both lived at the time, about 15 years ago. I let him know how much I loved the gardens, and a few years later, T hired me to be a seasonal gardener and then a full-time employee. After 60 years, I finally fell into a job that I love, thanks to T. He was a true horticulturist – a real professional who valued passion, and a little experience – over credentials.”

Nancy Buivid, a senior horticulturist at the BPCA, said, “beyond the workplace, T was a wonderful friend full of humor and light, a diplomat and thoughtful advocate who introduced me to a concept he brought back from his Loeb Fellowship: the Zone of Possible Agreement, or ZOPA. He was perhaps one of my greatest teachers in both the personal and professional worlds.”

Eileen Calvanese, the BPCA’s former horticulture foreperson, recalled, “T was my boss and mentor for 20 years and my friend for 30. His passion for soil science, arboriculture, horticulture, and music was contagious. He was funny and sometimes silly. He also sometimes drove me crazy, and he was endearing. I’m grateful that I knew him.”

Non-professional gardeners relied on Mr. Fleisher, too. “He was a purist in the best sense,” said Susan Brady from the Liberty Community Gardens steering committee, saying the community appreciated his kindness and expert advice.

Trini Lima, an assistant horticulturist at the BPCA, said, “what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. For that and much more, he will be immortal in our hearts.”

Nidia X. Blake, the BPCA’s director of event coordination and management, said, “he was full of life and laughter. Thoughtful and caring, he gave great advice. We have lost a gem.”

In a Youtube video recorded several years ago at a biodiversity conference, Mr. Fleisher can be seen on stage discussing soil health. “More importantly than ever,” he said, “is that we work together on doing what’s right for this earth and the soil – to take care of these valuable resources that are so limited that we all share and that we need to survive.”

Ms. Filippone has asked that, in lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Mr. Fleisher’s memory consider contributing when “EarthForce, the Eric T Fleisher Lecture Series,” is launched. Details will be circulated soon.