Annual Report 2024: Stewarding Gardens

The following blog post is an excerpt from our 2024 annual report.

New York Restoration Project owns and operates more than 50 community gardens throughout all five boroughs of New York City. We provide regular, year-round maintenance to ensure that all our spaces are consistently clean, safe, accessible, and programmed with community-driven events.

This includes making weekly rounds to all our gardens to clean up litter, care for street trees, and maintain essential infrastructure. Additionally, our Engagement & Programming team works directly with our more than 700 gardeners to offer community engagement support; provide equipment as needed; and help organize meaningful public events.

Last year alone, NYRP helped welcome over 14,350 community members to more than 340 events including everything from live music performances and free back-to-school giveaways to fitness events and art classes. “We do our best to pay attention to both what kinds of programming communities want, as well as what kinds of events are generally the most popular,” describes Public Programming Coordinator Mike Horwitz.

One of the greatest achievements of the 2024 season was completing the renovation of Members Garden/Dahlia Group Community Garden in Melrose section of The Bronx. Originally founded in 1994, this South Bronx community garden received major upgrades last year to improve its accessibility and more than double its food production capacity. This included regrading the garden to ensure ADA accessibility; installing an in-ground water and irrigation system; constructing a central patio with a shade structure; building a new storage shed; installing new raised gardening beds with clean soil; and preserving existing fig, persimmon, and magnolia trees.

“The renovation has attracted more community interest in the garden,” says gardener Jose Ramos. “We’re looking forward to using the garden to show our neighbors what we’re all about this coming season.”

Thank you to the Ashner Family Evergreen Foundation, the New York State Parks Environmental Protection Fund, and the USDA-NRCS for making the Members Garden transformation possible.

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2024 NYRP COMMUNITY GARDEN ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

At the end of every season, NYRP’s Engagement & Programming team acknowledges the groups that went above and beyond to serve their communities. We were proud to recognize the following gardens this past year:

GARDEN OF THE YEAR

Cooper Street Community Garden, 34 Cooper St., Brooklyn (Bushwick)

BEST PROGRAMMING

Aberdeen Community Garden, 91 Aberdeen St., Brooklyn (Bushwick)

URBAN AGRICULTURE ACHIEVEMENT

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson Community Garden, 117-15 165th St., Queens (Jamaica)

MOST IMPROVED

Eastchester Road Community Garden, 3634 Eastchester Rd., The Bronx (Eastchester)