Every year, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden holds its annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest, which awards the neighborhoods who both spiff up their communities with plants, while also encouraging streetscape gardening, "tree stewardship," and other sustainable practices.
Last year, the Bainbridge Street Homeowners and Tenants Block Association in Bedford-Stuyvesant took the crown for Greenest Residential Block but this year, the winning neighborhood is a little further south: first place went to the 300 East 25th Block Association in Flatbush, which has apparently entered the contest every year for almost two decades. "We garden for pleasure, for fun, because we love it," Grace Henry, the president of the Association, said in a press release. "When you do something with love, it always comes out beautiful. The purpose of this, the essence, is to really build community, one garden at a time."
More than 150 blocks across 25 different neighborhoods in Brooklyn entered this year’s contest, and other categories include Greenest Storefront, Best Community Garden Streetscape, and Special Commendation. Flatbush wasn’t the only community that got props: Winners in other categories included blocks and storefronts in Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.