Homes and Gardens: Mandating Community Gardens in NYC Housing

I care about the Homes and Gardens mandate because every human being deserves connection—to land, to community, to life itself. Community gardens bring that connection to the surface. They offer nourishment, beauty, joy, and healing. They are places where young people grow with the earth, where elders share stories in the shade, and where neighbors come together to care for something bigger than themselves. By mandating one or more community gardens for every 99 homes built, we are choosing to grow justice alongside shelter. We are planting futures rooted in care. This is how we build a city that loves all of us back.

As someone rooted in the environmental justice movement, I believe that housing must include access to land, healing, and community. Our policy mandates one or more community gardens for every 99 units of housing, ensuring that green space becomes a basic right, not a privilege. Community gardens provide food security, offer intergenerational gathering spaces, enhance climate resilience, and offer opportunities for cultural expression. In neighborhoods that have faced redlining, toxic exposures, and displacement, gardens restore balance. When we build housing and gardens together, we contribute to justice, connection, and a city where everyone can thrive.