A Garden in Brooklyn Bridges a Gentrification Divide

New York Times

2 days ago

Good morning. It's Tuesday. Today we'll find out why a block in Crown Heights is Brooklyn's greenest. We'll also get details on the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration in New York City.
People on Eastern Parkway describe the block between Franklin Avenue and Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights as one of the busiest around, with a station where trains from three subway lines stop.
They also say it's one of the most organized blocks anywhere, with a block association that tends communal herb gardens and paints benches where passers-by can linger.
As of today, they can also describe it as the greenest block in Brooklyn. It won that title, conferred by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in an annual contest, beating 10 other finalists from among more than 100 entries.
Adrian Benepe, the president of the botanic garden, said that Eastern Parkway was a departure for the contest, which began in the 1990s: It was the first winner from a block made up mostly of apartment buildings. Past winners have been quieter residential blocks with one-to-four-family homes that had 'lots of places to do the greening,' he said. That part of Eastern Parkway has mainly four-to-six-story apartment buildings with smallish front yards.
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