A sidewalk corn garden planted and tended by preschoolers on the Upper East Side was destroyed Monday morning by an unidentified individual, days before the children were set to harvest their crop. The students at Mis Amiguitos Spanish Montessori discovered the cornstalks uprooted and discarded in a trash bin, an incident the New York City Police Department is investigating as criminal mischief.
Surveillance footage shows a person arriving on a Citi Bike, stopping at the garden, and then tearing the cornstalks from the ground before placing them in a trash bag. Mily Cabarello, the CEO and owner of the school, described the scene as "like watching a massacre" and "heartbreaking."
The children, aged 4 to 8, had been caring for the garden since planting the seeds in April. This was not the first incident of vandalism targeting the plot; previously, guard rails costing the school $1,000 were stolen, and some flowers were trampled. Whether the same individual is responsible for all incidents remains unknown.
Mis Amiguitos has installed cameras to help identify the perpetrator in case of further incidents. The school had planned to use the harvested corn for classroom decorations. This year's vandalism contrasts with previous successful gardens, including pumpkins and sunflowers, that were left undisturbed since 2021.
Despite the damage, the school plans to continue its gardening program. Neighbors have offered support through donations and kind words. The students are already considering their next crop, with the possibility of planting corn again.
