This is the West Side Community Garden, which spans between 89th and 90th Streets between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is one of the largest public gardens in the city. Click here for more photos. These blocks are home to an array of institutions: Ballet Hispanico, Stephen Gaynor School, Claremont Riding Stables (recently closed), and St. Gregory the Great School.
During the 1970s, half the block facing Columbus Avenue was razed for new buildings. Inadequate funds led to an abandoned plot. By the time real estate developers were ready to build, the space had been transformed into a garden by local residents (many community gardens in the city have started this way). The community was aided in saving this space by Community Board 7, the Trust for Public Land, private fundraising, and developer Jerome Kretchmer, who included the garden in his development plan. “How could a green open space not be a good amenity?” Kretchmer asks. “I get my money’s worth a hundred times a year.”
The garden officially opened to the public in 1988. There is a vegetable garden area with over 100 individual, private plots where vegetables can be grown and harvested. As would be expected for such a privilege in the city, there is a waiting list for vacant plots. Of course, the primary focus is flowers; each spring, the garden is home to over 300 varieties of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and roses. Students of St. Gregory the Great School are responsible for the planting and maintaining of two plots. Gardens and parks are not only beautiful in their own rights but also in juxtaposition to urban structures, providing necessary respite and sanctuary…
As a place to ‘chill’, it looks brilliant.
amazing picture! i have no words to say anything…
Pois era mesmo aqui,
que roubava ao tempo um final de tarde para me sentar a reler Cem Anos de Solidão.
As tulipas carregam consigo um misticismo genuinamente particular.
Que acredito que compreendas, agora, por inteiro.
Continuação de bom serão,
Vira Vento.
This garden looks absolutely beautiful. What a gem!
It’s probably hard to do it justice, but your photos do a masterful job. I’m pleased that the students are involved in both planting and maintaining part of it. Hoorah!
Wonderful place to visit.
very colorful and to be honest i havent seen a garden full of different colored flowers, except for flower shops. this is brilliant! nice history as well. thanks for sharing
Just very gorgeous.
very nice. Is this where they filmed “you’ve got mail” at the end??? Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meet up? It looks like it….I just want to set up a hammock and stare at the flowers all day!!
What a beautiful garden. It looks so relaxing there a great place to go to for chilling out and forgetting a stressful day.
Brian, this is an escpecially beautifully rendered image, pulls you right in! And always, your writing completes the picture. Thank you.
Has this photo been taken recently? Here in Vienna, the tulips are gone for some time now, I feel like we’ve been moved towards the South. 🙂
i remember when this was opened….didn’t know the back story though, thanks.