Above Photo: The Battery Urban Farm educational project in Manhattan. By HildaWeges Photography. Shutterstock
New York’s ability to feed itself with locally grown urban agriculture is only being partially realized. Better planning, specific to urban agriculture, would help.
“New York City has the largest urban agriculture system in the country, including community and rooftop gardens and greenhouses, as well as ‘vertical farms,'” according to an article by Thomas MacMillan. “But a recent report by the Brooklyn Law School finds new growers are sometimes stymied by confusion over where they fit into city regulations.”
An ordinance under consideration by the New York City Council would address that confusion, however, with solid planning: “The measure, introduced Thursday by Councilman Rafael Espinal and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, and assigned to the Land Use Committee, calls for a comprehensive urban agriculture plan with updated zoning and building codes and possibly an office of urban agriculture.”