Jim Walden for Mayor of New York City
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Jim Walden Unveils Plan To Protect NYC Community Gardens

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2025
Media Contact: Sara Silver
(646) 705-3286
sara@jimfornyc.com

 

 

Hands off our community gardens. Period.

NEW YORK — Independent mayoral candidate Jim Walden on Tuesday released his plan to Protect protect New York City’s more than 550 community gardens by establishing the Community Gardens Protection Program (CGPP). Consistent with Walden’s NYC Bill of Rights, which protects access to parks and community gardens, Walden’s plan embraces urban agriculture and a Deputy Mayor to oversee conservation and environmental remediation of our waterfront.

Jim Walden, Independent candidate for NYC Mayor said, “Hands off our community gardens. Period. Across New York City, there are hundreds of 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 create the CGPP to give them that. As Mayor, I also will prioritize urban agriculture in a bold new way. I am running against the party system that has put politics over New Yorkers and the things we care about like parks, community gardens and urban agriculture. We will make New York City greener by putting people of politics and I will bring independence and integrity to City Hall.”

The CGPP has two parts. For well-established and supported gardens will receive parkland protections immediately. 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.

Beyond Community Gardens, the Walden Plan goes much farther on protecting our environment. One part of that is the better conservation and environmental remediation of our coastline. New York City needs someone laser-focused on remediation, resilience, and adaptation. For that critical job, Walden will appoint a Deputy Mayor in charge of Waterfront Conservation and Management.

Walden’s plan also calls for the embrace of urban agriculture more boldly.

You can access Walden’s full Community Gardens plan here.

About Jim Walden

Jim Walden learned early that success comes through resilience and hard work while growing up in working-class Levittown, Pennsylvania. Despite an abusive father who abandoned the family when Jim was 14, he graduated near the top of his class while distinguishing himself in debate. His two years in the U.S. Navy’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps earned him dozens of commendations, foreshadowing a lifetime of public service.

It wasn’t easy for Jim to get to college. He spent a year working multiple jobs—from drugstore clerk to fast-food worker—sleeping on a friend’s floor while saving for his education until a friend helped him find a college where he’d earn financial aid. At Hamilton College, he excelled academically, winning awards for public speaking and campus service, and played rugby. He went to Temple University law school on an academic scholarship and graduated first in his class. He secured a coveted clerkship with a federal appellate judge in Philadelphia, Anthony Joseph Scirica.

As a criminal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice, Jim quickly earned a reputation for innovative strategies that made him the go-to prosecutor for FBI and DEA agents, as well as NYPD officers. Focusing on organized crime, his investigations led to more than 100 convictions—including members of all five New York crime families and one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. He helped to solve 25 cold-case homicides. His groundbreaking work was featured in National Geographic’s “Inside the American Mob.”

Jim built one of New York City’s premier litigation boutiques over a decade, while maintaining an unwavering commitment to public service law. Across his 20+ year career in private practice, his “good government” work has touched many corners of city life:

  • Fought for safer schools by forcing the Department of Education to protect bullied schoolkids
  • Secured $250 million for emergency repairs and better living conditions for over 400,000 NYCHA residents
  • Protected public spaces by stopping illegal parkland transfers in Manhattan and Brooklyn
  • Defended voting rights by successfully challenging gerrymandered district maps
  • Restored vital food assistance to impoverished New Yorkers
  • Protected hundreds of thousands of city retirees from healthcare cuts
  • Saved emergency care in Southern Brooklyn when SUNY wanted to close a critical hospital

While building this career over 30 years and running a thriving law practice, Jim has remained devoted to family and community. He and his wife raised three children in Brooklyn, while financially supporting his sister and her four children. His commitment to public service extends to philanthropic work across numerous issues, and service on an array of not-for-profit boards, demonstrating that success means lifting others as you rise.

Jim’s story—from a challenging childhood to becoming one of New York’s most effective advocates for justice—embodies the spirit of our city: resilient, innovative, and deeply committed to helping others succeed.

For more information: www.jimfornyc.com