A Better Environment: Community Gardens, Coastline Conservation and Urban Farming

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.

— Audrey Hepburn, Actress and Humanitarian

Executive Summary

Consistent with his NYC Bill of Rights, which embraces access to parks and community gardens, Walden’s plan will protect New York City’s more than 550 community gardens by establishing the Community Gardens Protection Program (CGPP). His broader initiative embraces urban agriculture and a Deputy Mayor to oversee conservation and environmental remediation of our waterfront.

Green spaces are essential to New Yorkers. We protect public parks against development. Our community gardens need that same protection.

ON MAY 7, I ISSUED A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR NEW YORK CITY TO ESTABLISH 14 ESSENTIAL FREEDOMS FOR OUR CITY. AMONG THEM IS THE RIGHT TO “PARKS AND COMMUNITY GARDENS PROTECTED AGAINST DEVELOPMENT.”

My position is clear:

Hands off our community gardens. Across New York City, there are over 550 community gardens—embedded into the fiber of their surrounding communities—and yet, most are vulnerable to displacement and destruction. These spaces deserve the same legal protection as public parks. I will start a program to achieve this. The program will be called the Community Gardens Protection Program (CGPP). It has two parts.

First, well-established and supported gardens will receive parkland protections immediately. Many of these gardens are so well-supported and developed that no qualification process is necessary. Elizabeth Street Gardens (ESG), pictured above, is one. There are other community gardens in each borough like ESG. They are well established and worthy of parkland protection without the need for further red tape. A sampling of those gardens is described at the end of this policy. For ESG and similar gardens across the city, I would grant them protected status on the first day of my administration.

Second, for less established and under-supported gardens, CGPP will offer an incubator program, providing these gardens with the necessary resources and support. Eventually, they can apply for parkland protection. Once a community garden is “qualified” under the program, it will have the same legal protections as public parks. I will work with community preservation groups to establish fair and reasonable criteria for qualification.

Beyond community gardens, we need to do much more for our environment. One part of that is the better conservation and environmental remediation of our coastline. We need someone laser-focused on remediation, resilience, and adaptation. For that critical job, I will appoint a Deputy Mayor in charge of Waterfront Conservation and Management.

Urban Agriculture. I also plan to embrace urban agriculture more boldly. “Urban farming, urban agriculture or urban ag as it is sometimes called, is about growing food in cities. It is about local people growing their own, often organic, crops on rooftops and in neighborhood gardens, providing easy access to fresh, local food. And it is about high-tech food producers in former industrial structures.”[1]

There are so many benefits. It promotes a cleaner environment, helping to reduce our carbon footprint. It makes our city greener and more vibrant. It can provide fresh, healthy food. And it provides opportunity for kids to learn about sustainability and sustenance.

And it helps on affordability. If implemented at scale, it can help reduce food prices in local communities. Local production eliminates transportation costs. It reduces costs because there is less waste and spoilage that occurs with transported food.[2] If done at scale, the added supply lowers prices. Local, urban farms, for example, could have helped during the recent spike in egg prices.[3]

We can allow communities to lease or license spaces for local agriculture. We can do this through using vacant land and allocated areas in public parks. I am looking at how other cities have done this at scale–including Seattle, Denver, St. Louis and Atlanta–so my programs don’t become a virtue-signaling exercise without actual results.

As of now, New York’s “leadership” on this opportunity to fully embrace local agriculture as part of the solution to affordability falls flat. What did the administration do? We got a local law, a Mayor’s office, a press conference, and a report about the first year’s results. These trifles did not get to the core problems of growing urban agriculture at scale. We must solve the density problem—finding spaces that are large and local. We need to focus on soil quality and environmental remediation (especially air and water) around those spaces. And we need generous funding. The 1st-year report claims some “notable strides,” but is remarkably vague on details. And the federal funding it touts is now at risk.

I will meet these challenges forcefully. And I will not claim success with press conferences, but I will measure success by tracking outcomes. I will establish clear goals and metrics for new spaces, measure the amount of production, and assess whether the program helps reduce food prices in local communities. If our aggressive pilot program works, we will release available spaces to integrate local food production throughout the city. We can have fresher, healthier and more affordable food production if we think boldly and act decisively. Our environment and our children will benefit from our vision.

Day 1 protections for established community gardens

BRONX

Bronx River Community Garden
Location: 1086 E 180th Street, West Farms, Bronx, NY
Overview: This vital green space near the Bronx River serves as a hub for community resilience and ecological care. Operated by local volunteers and groups like the Food For Thought Alliance, it features composting, education, and community-building events. The garden has been under threat from nearby development, galvanizing public support and media attention.
CBS News Article

Brook Park Community Garden
Location: Brook Avenue & East 141st Street, Mott Haven, Bronx, NY
Overview: A long-standing community garden committed to environmental justice, climate action, and green education. Brook Park features native plantings, urban agriculture, cultural programming, and youth engagement. It is supported by Friends of Brook Park, a group that also advocates for waterfront access and community empowerment.

Fannie’s Garden at Paradise on Earth
Location: 1106 Fox Street, Morrisania, Bronx
Overview: Transformed from an empty lot into a vibrant 13,000-square-foot community space, this garden features vegetable beds, a chicken coop, a composting center, and a pavilion designed for solar panels. It serves as an educational and recreational hub for local residents and students from the nearby P.S. 150 school.

Morning Glory Community Garden
Location: 1221 Hoe Avenue, Crotona Park East, Bronx
Overview: Established in 2014, this volunteer-led garden spans over 9,500 square feet, featuring 18 raised beds, picnic areas, and plans for a stage and rainwater harvesting system. It focuses on sustainable urban agriculture, offering workshops and a harvest box program to support food sovereignty in the community.

Garden of Happiness
Location: 2167–2169 Prospect Avenue, Tremont, Bronx
Overview: Founded by food justice advocate Karen Washington, this garden is a cornerstone of community activism and education. It offers agricultural workshops, voter registration drives, and food distribution programs, emphasizing sustainable living and community empowerment.

Target Bronx Community Garden
Location: 1025 Anderson Avenue, Highbridge, Bronx
Overview: Established in 1982, this expansive garden includes raised beds, fruit trees, an outdoor kitchen, a performance space, and a reading room. It serves as a multifunctional space for gardening, cultural events, and community gatherings.

STATEN ISLAND

Joe Holzka Community Garden
Location: Corner of Castleton Avenue and Barker Street, Staten Island, NY 10310
Overview: Established in the early 1990s on the site of a former bowling alley and catering hall, this garden transformed a vacant lot into a vibrant green space. It features raised beds filled with vegetables, flowers, and fruits, and includes amenities like a gazebo and a shed built by garden members. The garden serves as a community hub, hosting events and providing plots that residents can lease free of charge.

Westervelt Family and Community Garden
Location: 143 Westervelt Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10301
Overview: Founded in 1985, this garden offers shaded areas and picnic facilities, serving as a hub for local gatherings. It hosts various community events, including yoga classes and garden planning meetings, fostering community engagement and wellness.

Joseph Conti Serenity Garden
Location: Community Resources Staten Island (CRSI) Main Campus
Overview: This 4,000-square-foot urban farm focuses on sustainable living and job training. It offers horticulture workshops and employment preparation programs, particularly for individuals with disabilities. The garden is fully accessible and organic, with a portion of its produce donated to local food pantries.

BROOKLYN

6/15 Green
Location: 6th Avenue & 15th Street, South Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
Overview: A dynamic neighborhood garden offering sustainability programs, composting, seasonal plant sales, and kid-friendly activities. Known for hosting film screenings, musical performances, and holiday events, 6/15 Green is a beloved cultural and ecological space for local families.

Hollenback Community Garden
Location: Washington Avenue between Myrtle & Park, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY
Overview: Serving the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods, Hollenback features harvest festivals, potlucks, and community-led initiatives. With robust programming in sustainability, gardening, and social cohesion, it acts as a vital open space for civic and ecological engagement.

Phoenix Community Garden
Location: Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn
Overview: Established in 2006, Phoenix Community Garden transformed a vacant lot into a half-acre green space. It produces nearly 2,000 pounds of vegetables annually, including beans, corn, collards, and tomatoes. The garden serves as a hub for community engagement, offering fresh produce and educational opportunities to local residents.

Sunshine Community Garden
Location: 99-100 McKibben Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Overview: Sunshine Community Garden is a peaceful sanctuary featuring blooming flowers, vegetable beds, and a children’s area with a star-shaped bed and pint-sized table. The garden hosts annual barbecues, summer workshops for children, and welcomes family and church gatherings, fostering a strong sense of community.

Target Community Garden
Location: 931 Bedford Ave.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Overview: Target Community Garden bursts with flowering bulbs and fruit trees each spring and features vegetable and ornamental planting beds. A prominent feature is a paved patio with comfortable seating, a protective awning, and a steel arbor, serving as both a gathering and performance space.

QUEENS

Queens Botanical Garden
Location: 43-50 Main Street, Flushing, NY
Overview: Spanning 39 acres, the Queens Botanical Garden offers a diverse array of themed gardens, including a rose garden, herb garden, and bee garden. It serves as an educational hub, providing programs on environmental sustainability, urban farming, and cultural events that reflect the borough’s rich diversity.

Smiling Hogshead Ranch
Location: 25-30 Skillman Avenue, Long Island City, NY
Overview: Established in 2011 on reclaimed railroad tracks, Smiling Hogshead Ranch is a volunteer-run urban farm collective. It focuses on sustainable agriculture, community education, and ecological stewardship, transforming industrial land into a green space for growing food and fostering community connections.

Moore-Jackson Community Garden
Location: 31-57 51st Street, Woodside, NY
Overview: Situated on a historic site dating back to the 18th century, Moore-Jackson Community Garden combines a colonial-era cemetery with a vibrant community gardening space. Volunteers cultivate vegetables, host educational workshops, and engage in composting initiatives, making it a cornerstone for community involvement and historical preservation.

MANHATTAN

Elizabeth Street Garden
Location: Elizabeth Street between Prince & Spring Streets, Nolita
Overview: A one-acre sculpture garden featuring neoclassical statues, mature plantings, and architectural elements. It hosts over 200,000 visitors annually and offers free public programs year-round.

Liz Christy Garden
Location: Corner of Bowery & Houston Streets, East Village
Overview: Established in 1973, it’s NYC’s first community garden. Features include a turtle pond, native plant habitat, and the city’s tallest Dawn Redwood tree.

West Side Community Garden
Location: 123 West 89th Street, Upper West Side
Overview: Founded in 1976, this garden is renowned for its annual Tulip Festival, showcasing over 13,000 tulips each spring.

La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez
Location: East 9th Street & Avenue C, East Village
Overview: A multifunctional space serving as a community garden, park, playground, wildlife refuge, urban farm, composting site, and performance venue.

Green Oasis Community Garden
Location: 372 East 8th Street, East Village
Overview: Founded in 1981, this 17,787-square-foot garden features bee hives, a koi pond, and a gazebo. It also hosts theater performances and cultural events.

6BC Botanical Garden
Location: 624 East 6th Street, East Village
Overview: A volunteer-maintained garden offering a tranquil space with diverse plantings, seating areas, and community events.

New Yorkers deserve real leadership, not more excuses. We can fix this. We will fix this. And we will do it by putting people ahead of politics.

Jim Walden,

Candidate for Mayor

[1] https://www.insnet.org/urban-farming-makes-cities-resilient-sustainable/
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666683923000135.
[3] https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCrules/0-0-0-47152