The winner of the 2016 Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest went to the 300 East 25th Street Block Association in Flatbush (Source: Brooklyn Botanical Garden)
It’s the time of year when all the sudden everything in the city is green and beautiful. The trees on your block – normally bare and strewn with plastic bags – are big and leafy, the tree beds are popping with dandelions and bodegas are bursting with cut flowers of all kinds and colors.
While just about every block in the city looks better in the height of spring, some blocks are clear standouts. You know ’em when you see ’em. The care and dedication of the block residents is apparent in the form of creatively curated community gardens, overflowing window boxes and meticulously tended tree beds.
As a nod to these stalwart community gardeners, each spring the Brooklyn Botanical Garden hosts the Annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest. The contest aims to promote streetscape gardening, tree stewardship and community development by celebrating the floral displays of residential and commercial blocks throughout the borough. Prizes are awarded to both residential and commercial blocks in several categories including greenest block, greenest storefront, best window box among others.
Rules for contest entry require all applicants to be either a collective block association, civic group or neighborhood organization (i.e., individual residents cannot apply). Judging criteria is broad but includes consideration for citizen participation, maintenance of trees and tree beds on the block, variety, creativity and color of plantings as well as overall visual effect, maintenance and health of plants.
In 2015, the winner for Greenest Residential Block in Brooklyn went to the Bainbridge Street Homeowners and Tenants Block Association in Bed-Stuy. (Source: BBG)
In past years, Flatbush, Bed-Stuy and neighborhoods surrounding Prospect Park, including Park Slope and Prospect Lefferts Gardens, have done well in the Greenest Block in Brooklyn competition, with the East 25th Street Block Association of Flatbush taking 1st Place last year and Bainbridge Street Homeowners and Tenants Block Association in Bed-Stuy taking 1st Place in 2015. This year’s applicants hail from across the borough, but Central Brooklyn has a strong showing thus far with many block associations in Crown Heights, PLG and Bed-Stuy already having entered the contest.
If you would like to enter the contest, you can learn more about the application process by emailing community@bbg.org or calling 718-623-7250. The deadline is Thursday, June 1. Winners will be announced in August.
The Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest is joint effort between the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and the Brooklyn Community Foundation with additional support from National Grid.
If all this green competition is filling you with spring fever and inspiring you to flex your very own green thumb, check out some highlights from past years’ Greenest Block in Brooklyn Competitions below.
In 2016, an honorable mention went to the Lefferts Alliance Community Togetherness Block Association in Prospect Lefferts for this creative use of an abandoned bike. (Source: BBG)
In 2016, 1st Place for Community Garden Streetscape went to Pacific Street Brooklyn Bears Community Garden in Park Slope. (Source: BBG)
In 2016, 1st Place for Best Window Box went to Daniel Perez of 1083 Dean Street in Crown Heights. (Source: BBG)
The 2016 winner for Greenest Storefront went to Rose Water at 787 Union Street in Park Slope. (Source: BBG)
The Sterling Place Block Association in Park Slope took 2nd Place in the 2016 Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest. (Source: BBG)
The Lincoln Road R&B Block Association took 3rd Place in the 2016 Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest. (Source: BBG)
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