Phoenix Community Garden, the half-acre plot on Somers Street in Ocean Hill that neighbors have turned into a steady source of fresh produce, just got a significant upgrade. Crews improved pathways, cleared overgrown brush, trimmed trees and refreshed planting beds in a renovation shaped directly by community input, according to News12 New York.
The project was a collaboration between NYC Parks and Project EverGreen, the national nonprofit behind the GreenCare for Communities program. Per Project EverGreen, the planned work at the garden, described as a half-acre green oasis created from a formerly vacant lot, included safer and easier pathways, brush removal, tree trimming, new plantings and enhanced planting beds, all aimed at making the space healthier, safer, more accessible and more productive.
A Neighborhood Staple With a Growing Harvest
Hannah Wargo, community engagement coordinator for NYC Parks, said the garden is a neighborhood staple, per News12's report. The garden itself grows nearly 2,000 pounds of beans, corn, collards, bitter melon, tomatoes, zucchini, herbs and callaloo to feed the neighborhood, according to the garden's own site, Phoenix Community Garden.
Beyond the produce, the garden functions as a community hub, offering grass for people to sit on, and spaces for events, gathering, and sitting and reflecting, per News12. The garden is open to all members of the community, the garden's website notes, though registration for the 2026 season is now closed. Volunteer work hours run Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the second and fourth Sundays from 3 to 6 p.m.
🥬Farmstand: Sat 11am-3pm, until mid Nov 2025 🥬Link in bio to preorder weekly farm boxes!
Filling Gaps in a Neighborhood Short on Fresh Food and Green Space
The renovation lands in a neighborhood that News12 describes as grappling with both food insecurity and a lack of green space. Those challenges show up starkly in the numbers: Brownsville has just one supermarket for every 15 bodegas, according to NYC Food Policy Center, and the area faces an annual meal gap of nearly 6.9 million meals needed for food security. Public parks, open space and recreation make up just 5.5 percent of Brownsville's land, compared to 24.7 percent citywide, the same source reports.
Against that backdrop, Project EverGreen has framed community gardens as delivering outsized benefits, from cooler blocks and stormwater management to improved public health and support for biodiversity, while contributing to food security, cultural preservation and community empowerment. The nonprofit notes that since 2008, it and its partners have renovated parks and public green spaces representing more than 200 million square feet of living green space nationwide.
Part of a Broader Push Across the City
NYC Parks reported that the Phoenix Community Garden renovation marks its 10th garden renovation with Project EverGreen, per News12. Project EverGreen's own materials describe the Phoenix project as the organizations' 10th community garden renovation together in New York City, though the nonprofit has separately said its 10th GreenCare for Communities renovation in the city was slated for Corona Peach Tree Community Garden in Queens.
That Queens project, completed last year, brought ADA-friendly pathways, 15 new raised planting beds and roughly 100 pollinator-friendly plants to Corona Peach Tree, and was described by Project EverGreen as its first GreenCare project in Queens, fulfilling a goal of revitalizing gardens in all five boroughs. Whichever project holds the 10th-renovation distinction, the work at Phoenix Community Garden adds another green foothold in a neighborhood where both food and open space remain in short supply.
