La Casita Community Garden was established in 1990 and restored in 2003 based on a design plan provided by acclaimed landscape designer Janice Parker. The garden’s gravel paths – lined with river birches, crabapples and perennials – lead to a casita, a structure common to Puerto Rican gardens that includes a small porch for community activities and storage space. The casita’s porch provides a covered area in inclement weather and is decorated with neighborhood children’s arts and crafts projects. The garden’s planting beds, which run along either side of the space, are planted with flowers and perennials.

Community members host a wide variety of events in the garden, including an annual Halloween party, where neighborhood children decorate pumpkins and enjoy apple bobbing and pie-eating contests. During the summer months, a local resident organizes a series of parties – called Old School Jams – which feature music provided by famous New York City-based DJs and which bring local youth into the garden. Neighborhood residents also use the garden for celebrations, barbecues and community gatherings and programs.

To help ensure the garden continues to serve as an active green space and engages local residents for years to come, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) staff and horticulture crews work with community members to remove trash and provide ongoing maintenance, building assistance and plant material for the garden – including wood for raised planting beds, gardening tools, compost and vegetable seedlings.

This 2,500-square-foot garden is located in East Harlem and is situated near several New York City Housing Authority public housing properties – including the Jefferson and Wagner Houses – and directly behind P.S. 96 – the Joseph C. Lanzetta School – in a neighborhood whose residents are primarily of Hispanic and African-American descent.