GreenThumb Garden Recognition Awards

GreenThumb’s Garden Recognition Awards honor the individual gardeners and community garden groups who have excelled and left a lasting impact on New York City’s community gardens.

Save the date for the 8th Annual GreenThumb Garden Recognition Awards on March 29, 2025

Nominations

You can nominate GreenThumb gardens and gardeners (including your own and yourself!) for one of the awards by completing the nomination form.

Below, you’ll find a list of honorees from past events.

Lifetime Achievement Award (Group)

This award recognizes a community garden group that has contributed significantly to furthering GreenThumb’s mission and has been affiliated with GreenThumb for at least 25 years.

2016: 97th Street Block Association Garden, Queens
2017: Liz Christy Community Garden, Manhattan
2018: Joseph Daniel Wilson Memorial Garden, Manhattan
2019: LaGuardia Corner Community Garden, Manhattan
2021: Our Little Green Acre, Manhattan
2022: East 4th Street Community Garden, Brooklyn
2023: Bissel Gardens, Bronx

Lifetime Achievement Award (Individual)

This award recognizes an individual community gardener who has contributed significantly to furthering GreenThumb’s mission and has been involved in community gardening in New York for at least 25 years.

2016: Ena McPherson, Tranquility Farm & T&T Vernon Community Garden, Brooklyn
2017: Jenny Benitez, Jenny’s Garden, Manhattan
2018: Bob Humber, M’Finda Kalunga Garden, Manhattan
2019: Mr. Fossie Herbert, All People’s Church of the Apostolic Faith Community Garden, Brooklyn
2020: Karen Washington, Garden of Happiness, Bronx
2022: Cindy Goulder, Poplar Street Community Garden, Brooklyn
2023: Ross Martin, La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez, Manhattan

Rookie of the Year Award (Group)

This award recognizes a community garden group that was established or reactivated in the past two to three years and has made an immediate and significant impact in their community.

2016: HEALTH for Youth - Skyline Community Garden, Staten Island
2017: Windmill Community Garden, Queens
2018: Green Patch on Walton Community Garden, Bronx
2019: Hill Street Community Garden, Staten Island
2021: Paradise Community Garden NY, Queens
2022: Bean Morris Garden, Bronx
2023: Olive Street Garden, Brooklyn

Youth Award (Individual or Group)

This award recognizes a community garden group or individual that has made a significant commitment to cultivating the next generation of community gardeners. Nominations are encouraged from youth under the age of 24 years old that demonstrated significant dedication to community gardening.

2016: Brook Park Youth Farm, Bronx
2017: McKinley's Children Garden
2018: Rockaway Youth Task Force Urban Farm, Queens
2019: Dorothy K. McGowan Memorial Garden
2021: Discovery Community Garden 1 & 2
2022: Zonia Ortiz, La Isla Youth Community Garden, Bronx
2023: Frederick Douglass Boulevard Community Garden, Manhattan

Public Art & Cultural Programming (Group)

This award recognizes a community garden group that has enhanced its neighborhood through artistic or cultural installations and activities in the garden for the benefit of the public.

2016: La Plaza Cultural-Armando Perez Community Garden, Manhattan
2017: Children's Magical Garden, Manhattan
2018: LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens), Manhattan
2019: Creative Little Garden, Manhattan
2021: Garden of Resilience, Queens
2022: Maggie’s Magic Garden, Manhattan
2023: Le Petit Versailles Garden, Manhattan

Environmental Innovation Award (Group)

This award recognizes a community garden group leading environmental stewardship efforts in the care of their garden and/or by the use of innovative ideas that improve and care for the environment.

2016: Know Waste Lands, Brooklyn
2017: 462 Halsey Community Farm, Brooklyn
2018: Smiling Hogshead Ranch, Queens
2019: Q Gardens, Brooklyn
2021: Maple Street Community Garden, Brooklyn
2022: Vinegar Hill Community Garden, Brooklyn
2023: Brooklyn Bears / Carlton Avenue Garden, Brooklyn

Community Engagement Award (Group)

This award recognizes a community garden group that has gone above and beyond to foster a deeper sense of community and engaging New Yorkers of all walks of life through collaborative partnerships, free public programs and events for all ages, and other creative uses of the community garden.

2016: Chenchita's Angel Community Garden, Manhattan
2017: Joe Holzka Community Garden, Staten Island
2018: Hancock Community Backyard Garden Park, Brooklyn
2019: Red Shed Community Garden, Brooklyn
2021: East New York Garden Advocates, Brooklyn
2022: Two Coves Community Garden, Queens
2023: Rainbow Garden of Life and Health, Bronx

Garden and Landscape Design Award (Group)

This award recognizes a community garden group that has made a significant contribution through an outstanding project or landscape design, including a special horticultural feature, space redesign, or creative use of native plants.

2016: 6BC Botanical Garden, Manhattan
2017: Clinton Community Garden, Bronx
2018: Rockwell Place Brooklyn Bear's Garden, Brooklyn
2019: Project Eden, Queens
2021: 9th Street Community Garden & Park, now the Francisco “Pancho” Ramos Community Garden, Manhattan
2022: Dolly’s Park, Brooklyn
2023: Pleasant Village Community Garden, Manhattan

Urban Agriculture Award (Group)

This award recognizes a community garden that is growing and/or distributing food in or around their community to encourage healthy eating and support those in need.

2016: Hattie Carthan Community Garden, Brooklyn
2017: Taqwa Community Farm, Bronx
2018: ENY Youth Farm, Brooklyn
2019: Phoenix Community Garden, Brooklyn
2020: Bronx Hub Community Farms
2021: Morning Glory Community Garden, Bronx
2022: ISO Student Farm, Brooklyn
2023: Jardín de la Familia, Bronx

Going the Extra Mile Award (Individual or Group)

This award recognizes individual community garden members and garden groups across the city who implemented innovative ways to go above and beyond with their commitment to carry out impactful community-driven efforts throughout the year.

2020:
- Campos Community Garden, Manhattan
- Bruce Rivera, El Coqui Liberation Community Garden, Bronx
- Richard Morin, Urban Meadow Garden, Brooklyn
- Benay Chisholm, Pa’lante Community Garden, Manhattan
- Mike Repasch-Nieves, Edgemere Farm, Queens
- Imrana Sayed, Hill Street Garden, Staten Island
2022:
- West 123rd Street Community Garden, Manhattan
- Amboy Street Garden, Brooklyn
- Jackie Rogers, The Garden by the Bay, Queens
- Barbara Caporale, 6th Street & Avenue B Community Garden, Manhattan
- Danny Chervoni, Friends of Brook Park Community Garden, Bronx
2023:
- EL Garden, Brooklyn
- St. Nicholas Miracle Garden, Manhattan
- Bronx River Community Garden
- Gil Lopez, Smiling Hogshead Ranch, Queens

Partner Organization Award

A partner organization that has gone above and beyond to support GreenThumb community gardens.

2018: Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer
2019: Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden
2020: New Yorkers for Parks
2022: Green Guerillas
2023: New York Restoration Project

Special 2020 Garden Recognition Awardees