Brooklyn Botanic Garden continues to celebrate the Power of Trees with its Annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn Award

Last Thursday, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn award was announced. The press conference took place at the winning residential block, East 25th Street between Claredon Road and Avenue D, where remarks were made by BBG president Adrian Benepe, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and other representatives from the participating blocks. Runner-ups were announced as well, as were the winners of other categories such as greenest commercial block, greenest storefront, and best community gardens.

The competition has been running annually for nearly thirty years as a borough-wide celebration of the power of gardening to bring people together. This year, judges chose from 190 entries from all over Brooklyn, keeping in mind both the greenery of each block and the community surrounding it. This year’s winning block was a champion of both. The block’s diverse front gardens and lush, shady trees were beautiful enough, but the potted plants hanging from NO PARKING signs, the flower-filled wheelbarrows, and the array of info plaques educating the public on pollinators and urban gardening were icing on the cake. Little things like that, Benepe said, helped the block stand out as a clear winner. The block is more than a garden, however: it’s also a community. In line with this year’s…