The Most Beautiful Block in Brooklyn - Gardenista
The hardest thing about being a judge in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual Brooklyn’s Greenest Block contest is having to pick a single winner. Photographs courtesy of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, except where noted. Having walked all the blocks as a first round judge, I have been especially impressed by the efforts of people with limited budgets and time who pour energy and amazing creativity into their gardening. A finalist from last year, on Tenth Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues in Park Slope. A Greenest Block in Brooklyn finalist from last year, at 430 Eighth Street. Photograph by Jeanne Rostaing. Brooklyn, known more for the savvy toughness of its residents than the promotion of nature, is becoming a hipster hot bed of environmental concern, urban farming, and aggressive greening. Last year’s winning block, East 25 Street between Clarendon Road and Avenue D in East Flatbush, has 56 homes…. Photo by Jeanne Rostaing. A finalist from last year, on Glenwood Road between East 16th and East 17th streets. As for creativity, stoops on one block this year displayed pairs of shoes planted with flowers… all done by neighborhood children. On Van Brunt Street between Coffey and Van Dyke streets in Red Hook, a finalist last year. In the crowded and sometimes steamy streets of Brooklyn, you not only have to water, weed, and prune, you also have to fend off excreting dogs, plant thieves. Above:A finalist from last year, at 757 Fulton Street. Their work is not easy but they are Brooklynites, and they are savvy and tough.