Block by Block: Celebrating 30 Years of Greening Brooklyn Communities

For 30 years, Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest has demonstrated a simple but powerful truth: when neighbors come together around a shared purpose, they can transform not only their streets but also the communities they call home.

This year, Brooklyn Org is proud to support Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s 30th anniversary celebration of the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest through its new Block by Block exhibition and summer programming.

The partnership honors a longstanding relationship that reaches back to the contest’s very beginning—and reflects our continued belief that strong neighborhoods are built by engaged residents working together.

Returning to Our Roots

Brooklyn Org’s connection to Greenest Block in Brooklyn dates to the contest’s founding. The inaugural contest was launched by Brooklyn Botanic Garden in partnership with Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden’s Beautify Brooklyn campaign and was cosponsored by the Independence Community Bank Foundation, Brooklyn Org’s predecessor organization. The first contest drew 52 entries and established a model that continues today: rewarding not only beautiful gardens and plantings, but also resident participation and collaboration.

The Independence Community Bank Foundation’s support reflected the vision of its chairman, Charles Hamm, a devoted Brooklyn civic leader and philanthropist who believed deeply in the borough’s future. Working alongside Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Borough President’s Office, Hamm helped support an initiative that recognized something many Brooklynites already knew: neighborhood pride and community connection often begin right outside our front doors.

That commitment remains central to Brooklyn Org today.

The Building Blocks of Community

At Brooklyn Org, we say that Brooklyn is the richest community in the world—our richness is our people.

Block associations, civic groups, tenant associations, community gardens, and neighborhood organizations are the building blocks of Brooklyn’s social fabric. They create opportunities for neighbors to know one another, solve problems together, and invest in the places they share from the ground up.

The Greenest Block contest celebrates exactly that spirit.

While beautiful flowers, trees, and gardens are certainly part of the story, the contest has always recognized that community participation matters just as much as horticultural excellence. Winning blocks are judged not only on their plantings, but on the collective effort of residents working together to create and maintain them.

Neighborhood beautification offers benefits that extend far beyond aesthetics. When residents collaborate to care for a block, they build relationships across generations and backgrounds. They create common purpose. They strengthen trust. They foster stewardship and pride. And they help create social connections that make neighborhoods more resilient, welcoming, and vibrant. In a borough as diverse as Brooklyn, those connections are invaluable.

Experience Block by Block at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

To mark the contest’s 30th anniversary, Brooklyn Botanic Garden has launched Block by Block, a special exhibition and programming series celebrating the gardeners, organizers, activists, and neighbors who have helped green Brooklyn one block at a time.

Running through October 25, the Block by Block: Streetscapes exhibit features five immersive Brooklyn stoops and streetscapes recreated by recent Greenest Block winners. Designed and planted by the residents themselves, the installations showcase the creativity, care, and character that define Brooklyn’s neighborhoods.

Visitors can also explore Brooklyn’s Greening Heroes, an outdoor photography exhibition by Zachary Schulman featuring portraits and first-person stories of residents who have turned gardening into community-building.

The celebration continues July 30, when BBG will host its first-ever Block Party, a free day of festivities inspired by classic Brooklyn block parties. The event will feature music, food, games, and connections with fellow Brooklynites who share a passion for community greening.

Meanwhile, the 2026 Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest is already underway, with this year’s winners set to be announced on August 4, made possible through the support of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and National Grid.

Growing Beyond the Contest

Brooklyn Org’s support for the 30th anniversary extends beyond the exhibition itself. As part of this partnership, we will help connect Greenest Block contestants and neighborhood leaders to Brooklyn Org resources, including microgrants, nonprofit capacity-building workshops, and opportunities to connect with other local organizations and associations to strengthen their communities more broadly.

We know that many neighborhood projects begin with a simple idea like planting more flowers or organizing a cleanup. With the right support, those efforts can grow into lasting community assets.

That is why Brooklyn Org is committed to being a champion for Brooklyn and a partner to everyone working to strengthen and improve their communities.

Thirty years after Greenest Block in Brooklyn first began, its lesson remains as relevant as ever: lasting change happens block by block, neighbor by neighbor, and community by community.

We are honored to celebrate this milestone with Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the generations of Brooklynites who have helped make our borough greener, stronger, and more connected.