For decades, the residents of Southeast Queens have lived with water in their basements and uncertainty on their doorsteps. Chronic flooding—driven by a persistently high groundwater table—has plagued neighborhoods like Springfield Gardens, Laurelton, Rosedale, and South Jamaica. In some homes, water pumps run constantly just to keep the floor dry. And while citywide conversations about climate resilience often focus on future risk, in this part of Queens, the crisis is already here.
The Southeast Queens Residents Environmental Justice Coalition (SQREJC) knows that solutions won’t come from the top down. Formed by a network of longtime grassroots leaders, SQREJC was officially established in 2023 to fight for environmental equity across the borough. Their mission is clear: to create a clean, safe, and environmentally healthy community through resident-led advocacy, education, and organizing. They’ve held town halls, led rallies, and pushed for policy change on issues from waste transfer station pollution to hospital closures. But as climate change accelerates and storms grow more intense, the urgency of local resilience has become even more central to their work.
Their newest project, supported by CitizensNYC through funding from Con Edison, is as practical as it is visionary: plant trees that can help manage the groundwater problem.
The idea is rooted in science and community wisdom. Certain trees—like poplars and willows—naturally absorb dozens or even hundreds of gallons of water per day. By planting them in key areas of Southeast Queens, SQREJC hopes to create a living, breathing groundwater management system—one that’s low-maintenance, sustainable, and community-directed. Residents themselves are identifying planting sites, coordinating care, and tracking outcomes. It’s a pilot project, but one with enormous promise: a way to reduce flooding, restore green space, and reconnect neighbors around a shared purpose.
The scale of the problem—and the strength of the community’s response—has made this initiative a model for what neighborhood-based climate action can look like. Flooding has quietly eroded the quality of life for thousands of families across Southeast Queens, damaging property, increasing costs, and driving long-term health impacts. And while government action has often lagged, SQREJC has stepped up to show what can happen when neighbors take matters into their own hands. The project is also forging new connections between residents, local businesses, and community organizations, laying the groundwork for future collaboration and broader systems change.
“This is about more than water,” said Andrea Scarborough, a founder of the coalition and lifelong advocate for Southeast Queens. “It’s about people taking ownership of their environment and coming together to fix what’s been broken for too long.”
That ownership is what makes this effort so powerful. In a city where environmental investments often bypass Black and Brown neighborhoods, SQREJC is building a different model—one grounded in dignity, participation, and deep local knowledge. Their work exemplifies the kind of frontline climate leadership that CitizensNYC and Con Edison are proud to support.
Community by community, block by block, these organizers are proving that resilience doesn’t just mean bouncing back—it means building forward. And in Southeast Queens, that future is being planted, one tree at a time.
