Community Gardens and Urban Agriculture

Overview

The Community Gardens Program was created to support the thousands of New Yorkers who are building greener, healthier cities through community gardens, school gardens, and educational farms. Our mission is to help develop and sustain community gardens in New York by leveraging resources across state agencies. In doing so, we assist in the identification of vacant public land for community gardening purposes; coordinate on behalf of interested community groups and state or local agencies to facilitate the use of vacant public lands for community gardens; and support and encourage networking among community garden programs around the state.

There are well over 1,000 registered or permitted community gardens in New York's cities and many more cases where residents have rescued derelict private or public lots in an effort to build more livable neighborhoods.

Urban Agriculture

Through this program we also promote urban agriculture, connect gardeners to resources in their communities, and help to identify supportive community and school gardening policies.

Urban agriculture is defined as growing food and raising animals in cities, accompanied by complementary activities such as processing and distributing food, collecting and reusing food waste and rainwater, and educating, organizing, and employing local residents. Some examples of urban agriculture include hydroponics, urban apiary, aquaponics, backyard chickens for egg production, and rooftop farming.

An aquaponics project in Buffalo, New York.

A rooftop farm overlooking the Manhattan skyline in Brooklyn, New York.

A hydroponic rooftop greenhouse in New York City.

Source: Gotham Greens.

An urban apiary in Rochester, New York.

Source: Sweet Beez.

An aquaponics project in Buffalo, New York.

Source: Massachusetts Avenue Project.

City chickens in Brooklyn, New York.

Source: Walt L. Shamel Community Garden - Just Food, credit to Buff Strickland.

A rooftop farm in Brooklyn, New York.

Source: Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm.

Benefits

In addition to beautifying city blocks and providing needed green space in areas where public parks are scarce, community gardeners grow nutritious fresh foods for families, communities, and emergency food sites. Gardens and urban farms are centers of learning where children discover the natural world and find out where food comes from. Gardens are safe spaces for exercise in communities with poor access to physical activity outlets. These green spaces deliver environmental benefits such as reduced city heat, decreased storm water run-off, safer soil, and natural habitat for birds. In gardens, residents of all ages from diverse backgrounds find common ground.

Community Gardens Task Force

New York State's Community Gardens Task Force convenes stakeholders from state agencies, existing community gardens, special use districts, public authorities, and cooperative extension services to establish and expand community gardens and the activities they conduct. The group may study, evaluate, and develop recommendations related to this purpose.

Learn more

Urban Agriculture Stakeholder Meeting

The Department is undertaking a statewide study of urban agriculture to better understand the industry and put forth policy recommendations to further support it, in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) urban agriculture work team. This study builds upon Governor’s Hochul’s State of the State commitment to advancing opportunities for urban farming.

The Department and the CCE work team are seeking input for the study from urban agriculture advocates and practitioners across New York. Such groups should submit any reports, recommendations, surveys, studies, or other documents they have drafted to [email protected] to be included in the study. Inclusivity and representation are core tenants of the study, and as such all advocates and practitioners are encouraged to submit their work.

Additionally, stakeholders were invited to attend a special working session on November 2, 2022 to share their insights and experiences. Materials from the meeting are available below. Watch a recording of the meeting.