Brooklyn Queens Land Trust Announces Acquisition of New Community Garden

Brooklyn, NY — December 30, 2025 — The Brooklyn Queens Land Trust (BQLT) is proud to announce the acquisition of a new community garden, further advancing its mission to preserve, protect, and promote community-managed green spaces across Brooklyn and Queens in perpetuity.

Located at 253 DeGraw Street, the Christopher Adlington and Nathaniel Reid Lamar Community Garden (formerly known as The Secret Garden) is the only community garden in Cobble Hill and is the 38th garden in BQLT’s network of over three acres of protected community spaces in the heart of New York City. For more than 50 years, Nat Lamar and his partner, designer Christopher Adlington, maintained an exquisite English garden at the site, a private garden visible from the street. After Mr. Adlington’s death, and with the encouragement of Mr. Lamar, volunteers came together to tend the garden as an informal gardener group. In 2016, Mr. Lamar approached the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust (BQLT) to inquire how to preserve the garden space for the enjoyment of the community. After he passed in 2022, the garden was bequeathed to BQLT.

Thanks to the generosity and spirit of community fostered by Mr. Lamar and Mr. Adlington, the space has served local residents as a place for gardening, gathering, and environmental stewardship. The Christopher Adlington and Nathaniel Reid Lamar Community Garden’s acquisition ensures that it will remain a vital green space for nurturing relationships for generations to come.

“In a city that’s always changing, securing land for a community garden is an act of care. This acquisition ensures that green space, shared knowledge, and collective joy will continue to grow in Brooklyn and Queens for generations,” said Tiffany Dixon, President of the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust. “By bringing this garden into the BQLT family, we are honoring the work of the gardeners who have nurtured this land and ensuring its long-term protection.”

BQLT will work closely with the garden’s members to support stewardship, governance, and programming, while maintaining the garden’s community-led identity. As with all BQLT gardens, the space will be protected as an open green space in perpetuity.

Founded in 2004, the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that conserves and stewards community gardens, preserving them as permanently protected spaces for the benefit of the general public.

For more information about the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust and its gardens, visit bqlt.org.

Media Contact:
LinYee Yuan