With the impact of climate change accelerating, climate resilience strategies absorb the impact of long-standing greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that future generations can thrive on this planet.
CitizensNYC is proud to stand behind Cambria Heights Community Garden as they build that future at the neighborhood level. Intended to transform underdeveloped farmland into a green, third space for vegetation and intergenerational bonds to flourish, the Cambria Heights Community Garden serves as a site for stable environmental engagement and education.
Structured around sustainability, horticulture, and community engagement, the garden approaches climate resilience as an intentional, ongoing practice. CitizensNYC support has made a range of projects critical to the garden’s success possible. With raised beds, the community grows vegetables, herbs, and native plantings to strengthen biodiversity and attract pollinators. A composting system turns organic waste into nutrient-rich soil and returns resources to the land. And a hive apiary will be introduced as an environmental steward, supporting pollination and ecological balance.
John (JC) Iton, the Events Manager, explains, “The ecosystem never really takes anything away. Anything that’s finished being used gets reused, repurposed, and continues to bring value to the ecosystem.”
In a city where rising temperatures and environmental pressures continue to shape daily life, small-scale systems like Cambria Heights Community Garden contribute to long-term resilience. Accessible green spaces help moderate heat, improve soil conditions, and support pollinators that sustain urban ecosystems. Resilience takes root in the Queens community as well. Through youth mentorship, shared stewardship, and public programming, knowledge and care can move across generations.
In the face of our changing climate, the future depends on what we build today. CitizensNYC and Cambria Heights Community Garden plant our resilience, tend to it, and carry it forward.
