Photo courtesy of Catherine Tansey.
Twenty-two years ago, 128 Glenwood Avenue was different from everything else around it. It wasn’t a residential building nor a St. Peter’s University dormitory nor a parking spot. It was the Migrant Center Community Garden, and it flourished with blooming greenery, fresh produce and was a space for all living things to escape the noisy streets of Jersey City.
That was until early 2023, when all that activity was halted as the garden slowly turned into a vacant lot under the developer who owns it.
But just last month, in March, the developer—who has been named to Slice of Culture as “SMS”—announced that they are looking to sell the lot, opening the door for local neighborhood group McGinley Square Community Board (MSCB) to reclaim the space with requested assistance from the city of Jersey City. MSCB is calling on McGinley Square residents and “organizations throughout every ward in the city” to send in a letter of support for this partnership to help return and reinvigorate the community garden.
“[The garden] was just an utopian oasis. [It was] what you don’t even always expect you would find in a city, but all the more reason to stay in the city…,” MSCB Board President and 16-year Jersey City resident Shirin MacCormack said.
“There’s all these other facets that make a city tick and make a city feel holistic… [like] its parkland, mom and pop shops, hospitals… There’s so many facets beyond our housing that matter in terms of quality of life… and the garden was one of those.”
MSCB told Slice of Culture that the city council will reportedly make their decision on the group’s proposed partnership at the next council meeting at 280 Grove Street on Wednesday, April 22 at 6 p.m., which is also on Earth Day.
What Was The Community Garden?
The garden’s full name is the St. Aedan’s Migrant Center Community Garden, as it was founded by the St. Aedan’s Migrant Center (SAMC) in Jersey City in collaboration with neighboring college, St. Peter’s University. SAMC is “an independent interfaith project of individuals and organizations belonging to St. Aedan’s Social Justice Ministry who provide legal clinics, financial literacy courses, health and wellness programs, ESL, career development and a supportive network for the immigrant community of Jersey City,” according to Healthier JC.
While the lot—at the time of this writing—belongs to a different owner, traces of the founding collaboration between SAMC and SPU still exist through old photographs and information online.
“The gardens are a way of bringing folks together. Digging one’s hands in the soil while sharing camaraderie with others is good. Sharing food and flowers with those who come by is a way of practicing solidarity,” said Grace Lee Boggs via SPU’s Community Garden information page.
According to the page, every summer, volunteers would: prepare the garden beds, plant vegetables, maintain the gardens and harvest the crops. Different produce like tomatoes, beans, peppers, pumpkins, strawberries, lettuce, kale and more were ready and available for the community. MSCB emphasized to Slice of Culture in an email that the garden was “serving immigrants and students by providing environmental education, nourishment in a food desert and internships.”
MSCB’s Proposal To The City + Letters Of Support
According to an email to Slice of Culture, the owner of 128 Glenwood Avenue—the site of the former community garden—put in writing on March 13, 2026 that they’re willing to sell for $1.1 million and is seeking a “contract/commitment ASAP, or else they will build approved plans for luxury multi-residential.”
And that’s where MSCB is pushing to step in.
The 501c3, or nonprofit, community group “has volunteered diligently, in good faith, for three years—to work with the City and the owner—to save and reinvigorate this valuable public asset, through acquisition, to return it to serving the community it served previously,” the email added.
If MSCB can acquire the space with assistance from the city, they aim to:
- Provide free, year-round programming
- Raise planter beds
- Input a hen house with egg share co-op
- Beekeeping
- Book nook
- Public Art
- ADA accessibility
- Open air event space like public yoga, meditation, art performances, book club
The community group further argued in the email that their vision aligns with the Jersey City Open Space Master Plan Element, which states as one of the goals to “prioritize new park investments and land acquisition in Greenville, West Side, Hilltop and Journal Square.” The garden is considered to be on the West Side of the city.
MSCB also provided a funding plan for the city to help the group acquire the garden, stating, “We have structured a funding plan with programs that will amount to very little cost ($55-110k at most) for the City, which would be reimbursed, ultimately costing the City $0!”
Jersey City spokesperson Nathaniel Styer told Slice of Culture they are engaging with MSCB on the “best path forward.”
“The City is engaging with the McGinley Square Community Board and the owner of the site on the best path forward for the neighborhood. Given Jersey City’s budget crisis, we must be intentional with ensuring city funds are effectively used for the public’s benefit and deliver on the Mayor’s promise of building an affordable Jersey City.”
– Styer wrote in an emailed statement
MSCB has already garnered over 250 physical signatures that call on the city to support the lot acquisition, including emailed letters of support from Ward C Councilman Tom Zuppa and Ward B Councilman Joel Brooks. Much of the support also comes from longtime residents and community leaders like Catherine Tansey and Charlene Burke.
Tansey is the current coordinator of St. Aedan’s Migrant Ministry and was one of the many people who helped culminate the community garden. Tansey, who has lived in Journal Square for more than nine years, recounted the many smiles on people’s faces, the curiosity of strangers who wanted to walk in the garden and a play called “Seeds of Hope” that was performed amidst the greenery.
“The garden had an impact on the entire neighborhood. We could build a garden in the middle of an urban center. I was amazed that it brought joy to so many people. It can be done,” Tansey wrote to Slice of Culture.
“It would be perfect in impacting the quality of life. This seems to be a dark time again. A garden can bring people together.”
Burke has lived in McGinley Square for over 20 years and was there when the garden was at its peak. She holds a number of community-focused roles in the city, including: West Side Community Alliance (WSCA), JC Parks Coalition (JCPC), Boyd-McGuiness Park, West Bergen-East Lincoln Park Historic District and Lincoln Beacon to Bayfront.
“Gardens are a great equalizer, bringing people with varied life experiences, ages and backgrounds together,” Burke wrote to Slice of Culture.
“My experience has always been that people love to share what they know about the nature that you find in gardens from plant cycles, bugs, birds and the art of observation. It’s an outdoor life skills classroom.”
If You Want To Help, Here’s How
The McGinley Square Community recently put out a call to action, asking residents across Jersey City to “save the Migrant Garden” by emailing a letter of support.
“Act now before it’s gone forever. The owner is now willing to sell. Funding programs won’t cost the city. Community pledges maintenance. Acquisition aligns with the City’s Master Plan Open Space Element. We must seize this opportunity. A win for all — the City, the owner, and the public!” the Instagram post reads.
You can send a letter of support to these emails plus cc-ing [email protected]:
- Mayor James Solomon [email protected]
- Deputy Mayor Keshav Poddar [email protected]
- Infrastructure Director Andrew Kaplan [email protected]
- Ward C Councilman Tom Zuppa [email protected]
- Ward B Councilman Joel Brooks [email protected]
There will also be a Migrant Community Garden Revitalization Charette on Saturday, April 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 130 Glenwood Avenue that will be open to the public and feature a community-led urban planning/design workshop. For more information on it, you can check out their Instagram post.
For any other questions, you can reach out to [email protected] or their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_official_mscb/.
