Part 1 From Abandoned Lots to Food Freedom
This is part one of our latest series Growing Freedom in Brooklyn. Its based on archival research done on the East at the Brooklyn History Center. In 1968, a crisis gripped Brooklyn's Black and brown communities. Landlords who owned property in these neighborhoods began abandoning their buildings, leaving them in terrible condition. Arson became an epidemic as property owners burned down their own buildings to collect insurance money, creating empty, blighted lots throughout these communities. New York City became the reluctant owner of thousands of unwanted lots that nobody else wanted. But where others saw decay and abandonment, community members saw opportunity. They organized Third World Community Gardens Inc. (TWCG), a nonprofit organization committed to transforming these forgotten spaces into sources of life and nourishment. TWCG became a public land trust focused on organic gardening, building greenhouses for food production, and creating community recycling centers. This wasn't just about growing food – it was about reclaiming power. When the dominant caste abandoned these communities, residents refused to accept neglect as their fate. Instead, they chose to build something beautiful and sustaining where others had left only destruction.