This is Todd Bieber. You may remember him as the man who traveled to Europe to reunite blizzard photos with their rightful owner earlier this year. The Brooklyn-based filmmaker's latest project is a little bit closer to home, though—calling himself the "Vigilante Gardener," Bieber has spent the past six months planting vegetables in abandoned lot a block from his house. It's urban agriculture in a whole new, not-quite-legal way. more ›

Prospect Heights residents trying to jump on the Urban Agriculture: So Hot Right Now train are pissed at their neighbor, a building owner who dumped dirt and debris all over their community farm. more ›

There's a new secret garden downtown! Well, sort of. Richard Pasquarelli has just installed the first portion of his Secret Gardens public art project, a 5-foot-high, 1,000-foot-long vinyl mesh installation of “secret” backyard and garden scenes. This a a joint project by the New York City Department of Transportation's Urban Art Program and the Downtown Alliance’s Re:Construction program, which installs temporary artworks at construction sites throughout Lower Manhattan. Beats looking at blue construction walls! Check it out along the site of the Chambers Street road reconstruction project, between West and Greenwich streets, as well as a more recently unveiled stretch from Greenwich Street to West Broadway. more ›

Based on public comments on draft rules, the Parks Department announced yesterday new rules regarding community gardens across the city, including more protection against eminent domain arguments. Under the proposed rules, "Active gardens under the Parks Department’s jurisdiction are preserved as gardens as long as they are registered and licensed by the Department," and "Licenses will be renewed as long as the garden satisfies the registration criteria." Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito said in a statement, “The revised rules published today represent a major step forward in the protection of our community gardens, even as we continue to explore strategies that will make these gardens a permanent part of our neighborhoods." more ›

Building residents at 319 West 105th Street are fighting with their landlord to keep a garden outside the building. According to NY1, the "large cluster of vegetables, herbs and flowers outside the apartment building at 319 West 105th Street are a lot more than just pots on the street"—they "represent neighbors who lost their lives as a result of the September 11th terror attacks." more ›

If you notice some extra greenery in the city, then you have Woolly Pocket to thank. This week they've been setting up surprise pop-up gardens all over the place. They'll keep planting all summer, but this week they've already hit up West Houston and 6th Street, Broadway and Prince, Bleecker and Jane, and 14th Street and 9th Avenue (the Bleecker garden is pictured in the first two shots above). more ›

As part of a $100MM makeover currently underway at City Hall, the circa 1812 landmark building may be getting solar panels! The plan still has to be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, but if it moves forward it's estimated the panels would "generate 27,708 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, or enough to power about half the lights in the seat of government." more ›

The Parks Department is currently getting their green thumb dirty growing 16 types of rooftop gardens in the city. Their aim is to see which mixture of soil and plants will work most efficiently at cleaning the air, harvesting rainwater and cooling the building it sits atop, according to the Daily News. The 16 garden plots are all on a city maintenance building near the Triborough Bridge, but this spring the project will expand to 10 more rooftops throughout the city. Parks Department's Artie Rollins told the paper that a roof that used to be near 160 degrees on a summer day, is now cooler than the air. And Parks head honcho Adrian Benepe says, "It's spectacular. Right next to a major bridge, in the middle of the East River, you see a meadow that's attracting insects and bees and butterflies and birds" ... and pigeons? more ›

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will adorn its rooftop garden this summer with big bunches of bamboo. The exhibit, appropriately titled “Big Bambú,” is site-specific and designed by Doug and Mike Starn—who have previously installed a similar exhibit in Beacon, NY. more ›

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is simply not pleased with a developer's plan to build a condo in her Greenwich Village neighborhood. She put pen to paper (official Vogue letterhead, to be exact) and wrote a letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, calling the project "a totally out-of-scale, inappropriate eight-story building" and an "unwelcome intrusion." According to the NY Post she wrote the letter in February 2009, but just last week sent an appeal to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. more ›

If you don't have a rooftop or illegal fire escape garden, but you crave the taste of fresh thyme and basil for your homecooking... then you might to check out the possibility of window farming. New Yorkers Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray created Window Farms since growing food inside New York apartments is such a challenge. They simply channeled the "hydroponics research conducted by NASA scientists and marijuana farmers" — now through a drip system made from recycled water bottles, they've been growing beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, arugula, basil, lettuce and kale! CoolHunting stopped by to get a closer look: more ›

Last month celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, and Emeril Lagasse visited the White House garden to film part of a special two-hour episode of Iron Chef America to emphasize locally-grown, healthy food. The three were joined by the White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, who teamed up with Flay against the other two chefs in a cooking contest filmed later in NYC. more ›

The Truck Farm got some stready press during the summer months, and the Bed-Stuy blog just spotted it, still spurting out produce even though the days are getting shorter, darker and colder. They report back: "Looks like they had a hearty crop of tomatoes and peppers, along with a couple of other veg I could not immediately identify. I was tempted to pick, but I didn’t!" If one did want to pick at it, however, the Truck Farm is also a CSA of sorts—for just 20 bucks you can get your own little piece of the patch in the Dodge Ram. There's a video intro to the project after the jump, and more info at Wicked Delicate, who created the movable farm. more ›

Earlier today a memorial garden honoring the late actor, writer and director Adrienne Shelly was unveiled in a ceremony at Abingdon Square Park (8th Avenue and 12th Street). Her widower, Andy Ostroy, who is also the Executive Director of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, was on hand along with other friends and family. NY1 talked to Paul Rudd on the scene, who said "She really was such a fixture in this neighborhood for so many years that it's impossible not to think of her whenever I'm here." more ›

T.B.D. Garden: True, we told you about the massive new courtyard garden at Greenpoint's T.B.D. in last week's big roundup of al fresco drinking options, but what we didn't know then is that they're also going to be barbecuing back there every weekend and on select weeknights. Cook Min Chen, who knows T.B.D. co-owner Allen Welch from when they ran Long Island City's Lounge 47, tells us she's working on an expanded menu that promises to push beyond the standard BBQ fare. To that end, last weekend's menu featured seitan pulled "pork" and house-made potato veggie burgers, in addition to the regular burgers and potato salad you'd expect to find. Still under the radar and open just a few weeks now, this is a sweet space to spread out and read the paper while drinking a hard lemonade or five, and on weekends there's usually an old-timey jazz band or slot car racing. more ›

Here's a look at Entwine, a new wine bar and small plates lounge over on the far side of West 12th Street. Perhaps you're thinking, "Finally! Another wine bar in the Village." But Entwine has some attributes that make it worth a trip west (or east, if you want respite after roaming Hudson River park). There's the tranquil back yard garden, for one thing, as well as the creative cocktail menu, which includes bartender Duane Fernandez's delicious twist on the Rusty Nail; dubbed the Scotland Yard, it sports Dewars, Drambuie, fresh ginger, lemon juice and basil. more ›

It's that time of year again! The Met is readying their roof garden with a site-specific monumental sculpture. On Tuesday, weather permitting, conceptual artist Roxy Paine's dramatic Maelstrom piece, a 130-foot-long by 45-foot-wide stainless-steel sculpture, will be unveiled, encompassing the nearly 8,000-square-foot outdoor space. more ›

Today Brooklyn Based has some tips on growing the perfect garden...on your fire escape. The site eases cases of outdoor space envy by saying, "If you’ve got window sills, a fire escape or a stoop, you’re two months away from homegrown tomatoes and morning glory vines." One commenter quickly sounded his safety whistle with warnings of such an urban escape being illegal—but it's certainly been done before. In fact, earlier this month SustainBlog had a list of vegetables one could grow on their fire escape. more ›

Architect Daniel Libeskind is taking a cue from the urban gardening minds and "has unveiled a proposal for his first New York building: a glass tower dripping with sky gardens." NY Mag reports that his vision for One Madison Avenue would surpass the 700-foot Met Life tower in height, and that "Initial designs show a glass-curtained tube with cutaways spiraling up and around the façade to reveal segments of terraced verdure, like cultivated patches on the side of a steep alpine slope." How poetic. Libeskind says that the gardens are balconies and that the design will make it "as if nature has come back into the city.” As Curbed notes, "very expensive and exclusive nature." more ›

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Since opening last November, the 2,000 square foot Radegast Hall in Williamsburg has been packed with patrons enjoying the massive mugs of beer, the hearty food, and the debate about the old world dirndl peasant dresses worn by the waitresses. (Humiliating or part of the ambiance?) One group strongly opposed to the vintage Czech ensembles are the employees themselves, who say the tight bodices and short skirts are provoking come-ons from grabby drunken tools. Not cool, bros! more ›

The elegant 7th floor roof garden at Rockefeller Plaza is usually off limits, but for the next two evenings the general public is invited up to sip cocktails while savoring the twilight view. The only catch is that you have to absorb a lot of information about Canada, because our northern neighbor's tourism board is the one footing the bill. But since their national sales pitch comes with free food, music, drinks and hand massages, who's complaining? more ›

The farewell party for the famous "Toy Tower" at the Avenue B and 6th Street community garden took place yesterday. Vanishing New York estimates about 100 well-wishers were in attendance to eulogize the found object art tower, which rose to a height of 65 feet over the course of two decades. The eclectic structure is the work of the colorful East Village character Eddie Boros, who passed away one year ago this month. more ›

A tipster tells Vanishing New York that the iconic found object “Tower of Toys” that began rising out of the Avenue B and 6th Street Community Garden in the mid-80s will be demolished by the Parks Department. According to the garden's executive committee, the 65-foot tower has been deemed unsafe. And, let’s face it, it’s just not in keeping with the city’s ever-expanding ‘generic and soulless’ real estate trend. more ›

After stalling their landlord’s attempt to build a parking garage in their courtyard next to the BQE two years ago, tenants and other community activists are still fighting the proposal. Built in 1890, the Riverside Apartments at Columbia Place and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights were regarded as a great advancement in tenement living. Located near the Columbia Place docks, the nine buildings were unique for their running toilets, common courtyard, ventilation, and fireproofing, something unheard of for tenements at the time. more ›