Project EverGreen Creates A Cooler, Greener Future for New York City's Joe Holzka Community Garden
The Californer/10294354

CLEVELAND - Californer -- Community green spaces, like Staten Island's Joe Holzka Community Garden, provide the surrounding neighborhood with cooler, cleaner air, and contribute significantly to offsetting the heat island effect that afflicts urban areas across the city.

On September 17, the community garden received a boost when more than two dozen landscape contracting professionals and community volunteers came together as part of Project EverGreen's GreenCare for Communities initiative to revitalize this beloved community space.

The specifics of renovation, which is valued at $50,000, included:

• Installing new paver walkway and patio.
• Installing gravel base and diamond grid.
• Laser measurements, staking, grading, leveling using skid-steer loaders and buckets.
• Excavating a new path connecting the two garden spaces and weaving through the existing garden to draw people into the community garden.
• Planting about 200 native perennials.
• Clearing brush from the fences.

The 17,000 square feet garden is a green oasis and gathering place for community members. Holzka is remembered for his work on the Staten Island Greenbelt and other public spaces such as Snug Harbor helping create a living legacy of his commitment to municipal improvement.

More on The Californer

• At the SUONO SACRO ACADEMY launch pad in Assisi with the artistic direction of ANDREA CECCOMORI
• Meet a Scientologist Imagines the Future with Artist and Visionary Trish Duggan
• Car Wash Coupon in Downey CA is Not Needed for Car Wash in Downey
• Jamonie Lee Drops New Single "What's It Gonna Be?" — Out Now!
• THE LEAGUE: Where Basketball Meets Culture in the Heart of LA — Played at The Surgeon

"Project EverGreen has partnered with NYC Parks GreenThumb for 10 years to renovate community gardens across the city," said Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. "It's vital that residents have access to healthy parks and gardens to offset the negative effects of urban heat islands. Well-maintained trees, plants and grass sequesters more carbon leading to the production of more clean air that everyone benefits from."

The lead donor for the project was ConEdison with support from GreenThumb, the community gardening program of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

Green industry volunteers and donors included Artisan Gardens, Angels Contractors, BCLS Landscape Services, Greengage Urbanscape, Landscape SEO, Mike Darling Construction, Plant Detectives, Twin Resources and Urture.

This is the ninth GreenCare for Communities project in New York City since 2014. Previous projects have included Liberty Island (2014), Neighbors of Vega Baja (2017), Clinton Community Garden (2018-19), Jackie Robinson Community Garden (2020), Carolina Community Garden (2020), Wishing Well Community Garden (2021), Bradhurst Community Garden (2022) and Poppa and Momma Jones Historical Garden (2023).

More on The Californer

• California: Governor Newsom announces appointments 8.28.25
• California: Governor Newsom issues statement on court decision AGAIN ruling Trump's tariffs as unlawful
• Silva Construction Discusses the Benefits of Garage Conversions for Growing Families
• Governor Newsom signs executive order to bolster California's clean energy progress in face of Trump's wrecking ball
• California: Governor Newsom signs new law to provide fair interest for disaster-affected homeowners

Since 2008, Project EverGreen and its partners have renovated community parks and public green spaces totaling more than 200 million square feet of living green space.

Through its nationwide base of professional volunteers, Project EverGreen has connected people, plants and their communities to maximize the health of grass, plants and trees, which in turn sequesters carbon and cleans the air. The initiative supports healthy green spaces in neighborhoods and cities, enabling maintained green spaces to function as the lungs of the city and offsetting the negative effects of a warming environment.