About the Garden
Rebirth of a garden.
What was once a community garden many years ago had become overgrown and a veritable eyesore on the block. When Carolyn Schaefer moved to E 129th Street, she grew tired of looking out onto an empty, derelict lot. She seized the opportunity to reclaim it for everyone to enjoy and preserve it for the community. She started holding meetings with neighbors in 2002 and they worked tirelessly with the NYC Parks Dept, GreenThumb & Green Gorillas so that it would not fall in the hands of developers.
Phil Gaetano made her vision come true by donating his expertise as a landscaper, his labor and materials. All the plants, trees, and flowers you see in the garden have been planted since 2003, except for 4 trees along the west fence.
Carolyn passed away in July of 2015, but she left us a gift that we now are entrusted to carry forward for her. A memorial was held in the garden the following summer at which time the garden was renamed in her memory.
Harlem Rose Garden was presented the Community Cultivator Certificate in recognition of hosting community garden events for public enjoyment and contributing to the NYC Parks’ Lets Green NYC initiative in engaging a record number of volunteers on March 29th 2025. Thank you to NYC Parks GreenThumb for the recognition!
Garden Rules
Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from April 1 to October 31, pursuant to Green Thumb rules.
No alcohol
No smoking
No drugs
No loitering in front of the garden
No dumping
No events without prior approval
No unsupervised children and minors
No food waste or pet droppings disposed of in the garden trash cans
No behavior disruptive to our neighbors or any member or visitor within the garden
Dogs must be leashed at all times
