Forest Hills Community Garden Gets $350K From FY2023 Budget

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A community garden in Forest Hills was allocated over $350,000 from budget funds disbursed for the Fiscal Year 2023.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. announced capital allocations of $10 million for Queens parks and over $6.9 million for the Queens Public Library system.

Project Eden, located at Yellowstone Boulevard and Kessel Street, was one of the green spaces to receive funds under the auspices of NYC Parks’ GreenThumb program — the largest community gardening network nationwide.

“It was a historic year for Queens, as we made unprecedented investments in ensuring our students receive the best education possible, our families have high-quality open space in their communities, our hospitals have state-of-the-art equipment and more,” said Richards.

Project Eden is an all-volunteer community garden that was founded in 1993 by a family who transformed a lot on the side of a train trellis into a green space, according to their website.

The funds will be used to add a water hookup within the garden.

"Our garden does not have its own water hookup like many do, which means that our members, many of whom are senior citizens, have to hook up a hose to the fire hydrant around the corner," Farah Diaz-Tello, Project Eden Steering Committee Co-Chair, told Patch.

A total of 11 parks will receive funds, with six of them getting seven-figure allocations. Those parks include:

• $1.5 million for synthetic turf field renovations at Idlewild Park in Rosedale
• $1.5 million for playground renovations at Lawrence Virgilio Playground in Sunnyside
• $1 million for playground renovations at Equity Park in Woodhaven
• $1 million for playground renovations at Frank O’Connor Playground in Elmhurst.
• $1 million for athletic field renovations at Leonardo Ingravallo Playground in Flushing
• $1 million for playground renovations at St. Michael’s Playground in Woodside.