Rain gardens, sometimes known as bioswales, are found throughout NYC to minimize flooding and beautify neighborhoods. But those important purposes have become overshadowed lately by graffiti, litter and even pet poop that continues to build up in these pockets of curbside greenspaces around the city.
Once hailed as eco-friendly solutions for managing stormwater runoff and reducing flooding in the Big Apple, many rain gardens, local residents say, have fallen into a state of poor maintenance, becoming stark blemishes in many neighborhoods.
“It’s full of trash, it doesn’t even collect rain after storms, the water pools on the street level,” Jonas Chan, a Woodside, Queens, resident, said. “It’s disgusting. The railing ends up being used by bicycle owners.”
George McCook, also of Woodside, agreed that the gardens appear to be neglected. He has often seen dog feces left behind from owners who do not curb their pets.
“I have been living in Woodside for over 20 years,” he said. “These rain gardens are unfortunately filled with trash and dog poop. Moreover, Woodside in general had been inundated with trash and dog poop all over.”
On a late Wednesday in February, amNew York Metro spotted two rain gardens filled with plastic bags, liquor bottles, and cigarettes.
“Ew,” a passerby said, noting the debris.
Rain gardens in NYC are ‘inspected and maintained regularly’
The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency that manages the thousands of rain gardens that have popped up in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx since the program started in 2010. DEP officials explained to amNewYork Metro that there is a system in place to manage both the gardens’ appearance and efficiency.
The process starts when the gardens are first installed and maintained by the contractor for a 12-month warranty period. Then, maintenance is transferred to DEP’s in-house green infrastructure maintenance team.
Volunteers also help support rain garden upkeep.
“These rain gardens are inspected and maintained regularly by DEP staff,” a spokesperson for the agency explained. “DEP also has volunteer community stewards and contractors who assist with maintaining rain gardens.”
However, it is unclear how often the agency is able to conduct the inspections; they are only done by “trained field personnel at varying frequencies,” and it depends on the time of year, according to the spokesperson.
Six years ago, then-NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer audited a series of rain gardens and found that most were in poor condition.
“Seven years after our city was devastated by Superstorm Sandy, we cannot afford to shirk our responsibility to improve its resiliency,” Stringer said at the time. “We must use every tool we have to lessen the devastating impacts of future storms… DEP must step up to the plate and properly maintain these vital resources.
But that was in 2019. As several New Yorkers pointed out, maintaining the gardens without community assistance is undoubtedly a heavy lift.
“Isn’t it the responsibility of pet owners to clean up after their dog?” a Queens resident asked. “In addition, along with that, isn’t it time people clean up after their dog themselves and use the garbage cans around and not litter?”
What are rain gardens supposed to do?
Rain gardens work, essentially, as a sponge by slowly absorbing water. They collect stormwater runoff from hard materials such as streets and sidewalks and direct it back into an area of soil and native plants, thus preventing floods.
NYC, of course, is not immune to flooding. While Superstorm Sandy comes to mind first, as it left a historic path of death and destruction in NYC and other parts of the East Coast, there have been other notable storms in recent years that left parts of the city heavily underwater — including the remnants of Hurricane Ida that struck New York in 2021 and led to the first-ever flash flood emergency in the city’s history.
At the end of April 2023, the city was covered by nonstop rain, which resulted in flooding, downed trees and dangerous conditions citywide.
That same year, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia drenched the Big Apple in September covering the city in several inches of historic rainfall.
Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), rain gardens can be a great help in mitigating the damage caused by intense storms. And as a bonus, rain gardens also offer habitat for butterflies, birds and other wildlife.
“Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost effective and beautiful way to reduce runoff from your property,” the EPA states on its website.
As beneficial as all of this sounds, the unsightly appearance and neglect of so many NYC rain gardens has left community members frustrated and concerned about their environmental impact.
One bright spot, according to the DEP spokesperson, is that the rain gardens can still help manage stormwater runoff even if they are filled with litter—provided the water from the street can get into the greenspace.
“Rain gardens are a terrific idea, both for preserving the watershed and beautifying neighborhoods,” said Cat Greenfield, a Woodside resident. “But without proper care, the soil becomes hydrophobic, and the so-called garden becomes an eyesore.”
She also suggested creating caretaking jobs, ones that would not be as expansive as landscaping but at least ensure the gardens are working.
“Not as huge of a burden as landscaping, a caretaker could be hired and assigned to neighborhoods with city-sponsored rain gardens already in place, and ensure that the project actually fulfills its intended purpose, with the added benefit of creating city jobs for local communities,” Greenfield shared.
What about their beautification purposes?
Rain gardens can be natural beauties that stand out in the urban landscape. They are usually filled with native plants that absorb and filter pollutants from stormwater runoff, which helps purify the air.
Adam Trnka of Maspeth said the rain garden near his home stays relatively clean. He lives across the street from a high-traffic neighborhood deli, where the rain garden is located, just off a main thoroughfare, a popular route for dog walkers and buses.
He pitches in to keep his community looking nice.
“My family and I do our best to keep our sidewalks clean and litter free, and even though we’re three blocks in from Queens Boulevard, our litter is mostly blown in from other places,” Trnka explained. “Dog poop comes from walkers, but what can you do besides clean? Action is what’s needed as opposed to useless signs that nobody reads.”
In the meantime, community members who want to help keep their neighborhood rain gardens clean can consider joining DEP’s rain garden stewardship program. It offers training and tools for local residents to help maintain the appearance of rain gardens and help ensure they continue capturing stormwater effectively.
More information is available by emailing Gistewardship@dep.nyc.gov
New Yorkers can also report issues by contacting 311.
