Hunting for Green in the Urban Jungle

I had been looking forward to visiting the Wild Project Green Roof as part of NYC Wildflower Week. Walking up the stairs to the garden I was giddy and excited and I realized, to my amazement, that after writing about green roofs in the past, I don't think I had actually been on one. It. Was. So. Cool. A beautiful garden oasis sitting in-between two dull, gray buildings. The garden was designed by Alive Structures and is one of the few green roofs in New York City that includes native wildflowers. It felt so great to find this perfect green space in the urban jungle of Manhattan that I decided to devote the rest of the day to finding more "green moments." And, once I looked around a bit, they weren't that hard to find (and I'm not just talking about the obvious 843 acres of green space that is Central Park). Maybe it was one of the first spring weather days shining a new light on the city, but I was suddenly conscious of these moments everywhere. Each corner I turned seemed to unearth a new green gem.

Walking down Houston St. I stumbled upon a great community garden called Le Petite Versailles. This slightly overgrown garden gives a shady escape and wonderful private feel to its visitors. Walking downtown aways, I passed a Lower East Side housing development on Pitt Street, where I met a family starting their own garden of vegetables and herbs. I let them get back to digging and made a right on Delancey, passing a typical parking garage. I don't know about parking garages in the rest of the world, but the ones in New York City are rarely decorated with flower gardens. But, lo and behold! There it was: a small flower garden complete with a classic frog garden statue. Who would have thought? At this point I had hoped to stop for a drink, but couldn't possibly go somewhere indoors. I went uptown a bit to B Bar to sit in their garden and have a minty mojito. The perfect end to a green day.

I'm becoming a bit obsessed with finding more "green moments" around New York. Have you found a great hidden green space or been pleasantly surprised by a "green moment" you've had in your city? Send me your photos and share your stories.

The Wild Project Green Roof.

Wildflowers on the roof.

The entrance of the Le Petit Versailles Community Garden.

Shady oasis at Le Petit Versailles Community Garden.

Gardening on Pitt St.

The unlikely parking garage garden.

The garden at B Bar.

At B Bar's garden.

Mojitos at B Bar.

A bike handle wrapped in flowers.