Brooklyn’s greenest block is in Crown Heights
Lincoln Place. Photo by Artchan Nadura
The greenest block in Brooklyn is in Crown Heights. And so is the second-greenest block. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Tuesday crowned Lincoln Place between New York and Nostrand Avenues as the winner of its Greenest Block competition, an annual contest open to all blocks and community gardens in the borough. Another win for the neighborhood, the garden awarded Eastern Parkway between Bedford and Franklin Avenues second place.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) started the free contest in the 1990s to promote beautifying blocks and strengthening communities. Entrants of this year’s competition represented more than 100 blocks, stretching from Williamsburg to Fort Hamilton and Dumbo to Canarsie, according to the garden.
Award categories include the greenest residential blocks, greenest storefront, best street tree beds, and best community garden streetscape, among others. This year, new categories included Rookie of the Year, recognizing 21 first-time part participants, and Media Darling, selected by guest judges.
A panel of judges made up of BBG staff, local horticulture professionals, and New York City reporters selected the winners. Special consideration was given to plantings that support native insect pollinators to celebrate the garden’s 2024 summer theme “Natural Attractions.”
This year’s winning residential block Lincoln Place won the contest in 2022 and 2019. The block’s gardening is overseen by the committee P.L.A.N.T.
“We are incredibly proud of our block (P.L.A.N.T) for winning Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest for the third time,” Perri Edwards and Althea Joseph of P.L.A.N.T said. “Even if we hadn’t won First Place, we still would’ve won because of the connections we built with our neighbors and the community around us throughout the process.”
The Crown Heights Keepers won second place in the residential category and first place in the media darling award for their efforts on Eastern Parkway between Bedford and Franklin Avenue. Bay Ridge Blooms won third place for Ridge Boulevard between 71st Street and Ovington Avenue and first for best street tree beds.
Muse Cafe on 6th Avenue in Park Slope won the greenest storefront, the Green Acres Community Garden won the best community garden streetscape, and 365 East 46th Street was awarded the best window box.
“We are delighted to see blocks from so many corners of Brooklyn make a commitment to beautifying our borough and the city at large. It’s an honorable pursuit, and it a joy to see all the hard work come to fruition,” Adrian Benepe, president and CEO of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, said.
“Lincoln Place is now a three-time overall winner and has continued to exemplify the spirit the Greenest Block in Brooklyn was founded upon, mentoring younger blocks and sharing their skills. Congratulations to Lincoln Place and to all the winners in this year’s contest!”
See the full list of winners here.
