Support for Bill to Preserve Community Gardens (S.629-A/A.4139-A)

A letter from community gardeners urging the Governor of New York to sign a bill that would provide legal protections for community gardens by designating them as Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs). The authors argue that these gardens are essential for food security, climate resilience against extreme heat and flooding, and air quality improvement, particularly in marginalized communities.

• Bill S.629-A/A.4139-A would mandate the New York State Community Gardens Task Force to evaluate if community gardens on public land qualify as Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs) and recommend such designations.
• Community gardens enhance food security and sustainability by providing local, affordable produce, which became a critical resource for marginalized communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain disruptions.
• Gardens provide nature-based infrastructure that mitigates extreme weather impacts, including cooling sidewalks during heatwaves and using rain-collection systems, bioswales, and pervious surfaces to manage flooding from extreme precipitation.
• Community gardens improve urban air quality by filtering pollutants through vegetation, which helps reduce the disproportionate burden of air pollution on marginalized and under-resourced communities.
• Current legal protections for community gardens are insufficient, often leading to their destruction without community input; CEA designation would introduce procedural requirements to consider a garden's value and gardener perspectives before approving threatening projects.

APA

Earthjustice (2023). Support for Bill to Preserve Community Gardens (S.629-A/A.4139-A). https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-09-21_statebillletter-of-support_gardeners_final.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. Support for Bill to Preserve Community Gardens (S.629-A/A.4139-A). 2023. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-09-21_statebillletter-of-support_gardeners_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=Support for Bill to Preserve Community Gardens (S.629-A/A.4139-A) |date=21 September 2023 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-09-21_statebillletter-of-support_gardeners_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2023support, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Support for Bill to Preserve Community Gardens (S.629-A/A.4139-A)}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-09-21_statebillletter-of-support_gardeners_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }