The Horticultural Society of New York

At the Horticultural Society of New York (HSNY), we believe that nature, horticulture in particular, has the ability to teach, heal, nurture, and rehabilitate – a person or a community. HSNY’s community outreach programs are rooted in the belief that these restorative qualities can change the world in which we live. Our mission is to enhance New York City's environmental and cultural life by providing unique educational, vocational and therapeutic outreach programs. Founded in 1900 with a focus on gardening and beautification, our mission and programs today also encompass the use of horticulture to address pressing social and environmental service issues in the City of New York, as reflected in our key programs: GreenHouse, a year-round, innovative “jail-to-street” program that uses horticulture as a tool to help Rikers Island inmates redirect their lives and find meaningful work that helps keep them from returning to jail GreenTeam, which provides follow-up transitional horticultural employment and vocational training services for motivated participants from GreenHouse as well as other at-risk young adults Apple Seed, which offers innovative, hands-on horticultural education and related activities to expand science, math, and literacy skills in underserved elementary schools Read & Seed, a summer horticulture and literacy program that incorporates hands-on garden activities, art projects, and reading selections A Library, named one of the five best private libraries in the city by New York Magazine, which provides current and historic resources on gardens and gardening to the general public, professional gardeners, artists and scholars An Art Gallery that features works by established and emerging artists who are inspired by botany, landscape, and horticulture A Horticulture Education program that provides lectures and workshops, phone and email support for members’ questions, private consultations for homes or businesses, and an online “blog” for urban gardeners.