“The Garden People” got their start in 1977 at a location on 96th Street and Broadway under the auspices of the West 97-98 Streets Block Association. In 1981, when their existing garden was bulldozed to make way for a new building, the City of New York permitted community members to re-establish the flower garden at its current location in Riverside Park at 91st Street on the Promenade.

Throughout the 1980s, a period when all of Riverside Park showed the strain of years of budget cuts, the Garden People brought activity, color and life to the Park. Today approximately 40 volunteers tend individual plots within the garden. Their beloved community garden is located between 90th and 91st Streets on the Promenade level of Riverside Park. You can find their website at www.thegardenpeople.org.

You may have already caught a glimpse of the garden in the 1998 film “You’ve Got Mail.”