Community gardens are an important and growing part of New York Restoration Project’s (NYRP) work in New York City. Beginning with the organization’s efforts to save 114 community gardens from potential commercial development in 1999 to the establishment of The Garden Trust to preserve and protect 55 of these spaces in perpetuity, NYRP continues to restore each of its community gardens to their intended purpose and full potential – in the process creating much-loved village greens, highly innovative urban farms and much-used outdoor classrooms throughout the city’s five boroughs.
NYRP is also bringing great landscape design and creative aesthetic to neighborhoods where access to such amenities has typically been limited or non-existent. And, by doing so, NYRP’s community garden programs have helped to increase community pride, bolster local economies and provide many health benefits to residents living in proximity to their revitalized green spaces. Finally, NYRP continues to partner with other like-minded organizations to promote community gardening in New York City while actively seeking partners to restore additional spaces – achieving the greatest benefit possible for as many New Yorkers as possible.