An agreement between the Mayor of New York and the NYS Attorney General, signed in 2002, expired September 2010.  It has been replaced by rules issued by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.

The NYC Community Garden Coalition, which represents NYC’s nearly 300 community gardens, continues to seek permanent protection for the gardens. The rules issued by the Parks Dept. can be modified or revoked by future City administrations and, therefore, do not assure permanence for the gardens — even those that have been flourishing for decades.

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

Mollie Parness Dress Up Your Neighborhood

In April 2007 the garden planted the Love and Peace rose in honor and remembrance of Auxiliary Police Officers Nicholas Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik of the Sixth Precinct, who died while in pursuit of the killer of Alfredo Romero Morales.

The Cooke Center Academy

Little Red Schoolhouse

PS 41 – The Greenwich Village School

The Village Community School

In the summer of 2007 the garden participated in field research conducted by a graduate student at Columbia University.  Kristy King hypothesized that gardens with increased plant structural complexity (more trees and shrubs as opposed to just vegetable crops) would have more beneficial insects and, in turn, fewer pests. 

The results of her research led to the conclusion that community gardeners need not scale back food production in order to decrease the population of pests. Parasitoid wasps that feed on pests are capable of “tracking” pest populations across a large and urbanized landscape. Increasing the number of street trees around each garden may facilitate the movement of beneficial insects throughout the urban matrix, so this may be one way for gardeners to manage for healthy insect populations within their gardens.  Perhaps the large-scale tree planting initiative that is a part of Plan NYC 2030 will enhance the diversity of beneficial insects in community gardens, while also increasing air quality and reducing the urban heat island effect in New York City.