NYCCGC

06/23/2025

New York City wants to turn vacant lots into pocket parks – Gothamist

Mayor Eric Adams pitched the plan as part of next year's city budget.

06/23/2025

Thank you for attending our Mayoral Forum last month, and contributing to such a meaningful community conversation around gardens, housing and environmental stewardship. Your presence and outreach helped elevate the importance of protecting community gardens and investing in public green space without pitting them against our housing needs. This dialogue made a difference. Just one week later Mayor Adams announced a new “pocket Gardens” initiative which we believe, was directly influenced by our engagement and our united voice, and today Elizabeth Street Garden is saved! We especially want to thank our sponsors for their outreach to the community, their ongoing support and their commitment to ensuring that it's not housing versus gardens - It's both. Together we will continue to build a future rooted in care, justice, and shared stewardship.

Video of the Mayoral Forum, St Marks Church:

06/11/2025

Without bees, we're in trouble.

During the June Gap, Please Don’t Leave Out Fruit for Bees — Here’s What They Really Need 🐝🌼
As a beekeeper, I want to gently remind everyone: please don’t leave fruit out for bees, especially during the June Gap—the brief but dangerous period between spring and summer blooms when nectar sources become scarce. While offering fruit might seem like a kind gesture, it often ferments quickly in the sun, developing harmful bacteria that bees can carry back to the hive. This contaminated food can spoil their stored honey and even threaten the health of the entire colony.
If you truly want to help bees during this critical time, the best thing you can do is offer clean, safe water. Place a shallow dish outside filled with fresh water, adding small stones or twigs so bees can land safely without drowning.
To go one step further, consider adding a pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt. This natural salt is rich in vital minerals that bees instinctively seek—minerals that help regulate the hive’s internal temperature (kept around 90°F), ensuring proper brood care and honey production.
Please avoid feeding bees sugar or honey directly. It may seem helpful, but it can disrupt their natural behavior, weaken their immune systems, and even spread disease.
Supporting bees doesn’t require sugar—it requires awareness.
Water. Flowers. Protection. That’s what they truly need.
And especially during the June Gap, your kindness can make all the difference. 🌿💛🐝

06/11/2025

During the June Gap, Please Don’t Leave Out Fruit for Bees — Here’s What They Really Need 🐝🌼
As a beekeeper, I want to gently remind everyone: please don’t leave fruit out for bees, especially during the June Gap—the brief but dangerous period between spring and summer blooms when nectar sources become scarce. While offering fruit might seem like a kind gesture, it often ferments quickly in the sun, developing harmful bacteria that bees can carry back to the hive. This contaminated food can spoil their stored honey and even threaten the health of the entire colony.
If you truly want to help bees during this critical time, the best thing you can do is offer clean, safe water. Place a shallow dish outside filled with fresh water, adding small stones or twigs so bees can land safely without drowning.
To go one step further, consider adding a pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt. This natural salt is rich in vital minerals that bees instinctively seek—minerals that help regulate the hive’s internal temperature (kept around 90°F), ensuring proper brood care and honey production.
Please avoid feeding bees sugar or honey directly. It may seem helpful, but it can disrupt their natural behavior, weaken their immune systems, and even spread disease.
Supporting bees doesn’t require sugar—it requires awareness.
Water. Flowers. Protection. That’s what they truly need.
And especially during the June Gap, your kindness can make all the difference. 🌿💛🐝

05/24/2025

Finally here! Been working on this event for the past three months. With the mayoral race in full swing, this forum is a chance to hear from the candidates—and to make sure they hear from us.
If you're in the city this weekend, swing by.

05/20/2025

05/19/2025

This coming Saturday! Hope to see you there!

05/07/2025

INVITATION TO COMMUNITY GARDENERS (& the General Public) CITY-WIDE
MAYORAL FORUM on COMMUNITY GARDENS AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN NYC:
Reclaiming the Commons in the Service of Environmental & Social Justice
New York, NY The New York City Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC) and Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) will host a Community Gardens' Mayoral Forum on Saturday, May 24th, Noon to 2:00pm, at St. Mark’s Church-on-the-Bowery, 131 East 10th Street, Manhattan.
As the city prepares for its next mayoral election, we seek to hear candidates’ views on the future of green spaces and environmental policies. The event will highlight the role of community gardens in New York City’s sustainability and environmental future.
The forum, moderated by internationally acclaimed food justice advocate Karen Washington,* aims to provide an open, educational platform engaging with important issues surrounding green spaces, urban agriculture, food insecurity, and climate resilience.
We will address the vital role of community gardens in New York’s infrastructure, followed by a moderated Q&A with mayoral candidates. The event will also challenge the narrative that community gardens obstruct affordable housing development, exploring solutions to balance urban growth and green space preservation.
This forum offers candidates the opportunity to share their vision for a sustainable New York City and engage with voters passionate about community gardens, environmental justice, and sustainable urban policies.
We hope you can join us for this important conversation.

04/01/2025

Four creative acts to seed the future for climate justice and healing at Under the K Bridge Park, Brooklyn.

On Sunday May 4, join hundreds of artists, activists, neighbors, ecologists, dancers, healers and dreamers for LIVING SOILS RISING, four creative acts to seed the future for climate justice and healing at Under the K Bridge Park.

Hundreds of us will gather where Indigenous land was taken for the birth of the fossil fuel industry from 1867 until today. We will witness, remember, and honor the harmed land and envision a livable energy future together.

Costume: Dress as your favorite fungi, plant or animal local to Northern Brooklyn.

04/01/2025

Hello everyone,

This is a call for solidarity. Hope you can make this gathering today at 4pm as the garden fights for survival.

Dear Neighbors,

We are calling on everyone to gather in the Garden tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4 PM to celebrate this special space. We’ll be there for a while, but please try to arrive at 4 PM if you can.

We are still in federal court and doing everything we can. At this point, we’re taking it day by day.

If you’re a painter, photographer, poet, or artist who has created something inspired by the Garden, please bring your work. We only ask that it be related to the Garden.

We want to show everyone how much Elizabeth Street Garden means to our community and to New York City.

See you in the Garden tomorrow,

Joseph

03/31/2025