Landscape Maintenance Program

The program currently serves areas in the Bronx and Brooklyn, with additional locations in Queens to be included in 2025. The program will continue to expand to serve all five boroughs in the coming years. Notably, work is focused primarily on areas without established maintenance partners and to support projects where the addition of greenery would not be possible otherwise. Current sites include the following:

Bronx

• Medians on Grand Concourse from 161st Street to Fordham Road
• Medians on Webster Avenue
• Medians on Sheridan Boulevard

Brooklyn

• Medians on Tillary Street from Cadman Plaza West to Flatbush Avenue
• Brooklyn Bridge Promenade Approach
• Medians on Atlantic Avenue from Pennsylvania Street to Logan Street
• Bus bulbs along the Nostrand-Rogers route

The Landscape Maintenance program supports DOT’s ability to transform streets throughout the city and deliver quality landscapes. Services include, but are not limited to, weed control, litter removal, flower and foliage care, clean-up of landscape beds, herbaceous plant and shrub trimming, plant installation and replacement, mulching, fertilizing, watering, syringing plants and flushing landscaped beds, amending or replenishing soil, integrated pest management (including insects, fungi, other pests, and rodent control), inspections, irrigation installation, irrigation repair, and irrigation system management (including start-up and shutdown). The objective is to utilize best horticultural practices to promote the health and optimal appearance of right-of-way landscaped areas.

This work is performed by MWBE-certified landscape maintenance contractors on DOT’s behalf with oversight and management performed by DOT staff with horticulture and landscape backgrounds. This expertise is critical in guiding the work.

The contracts are also structured to allow DOT to order a range of services to respond to an ever-changing set of on-the-ground conditions prevalent with a living landscape.

Raised median adjacent to protected bike lane is scheduled for planting as part of Grand Concourse Capital project

• Community feedback for the maintenance of landscaped areas is responsive to public comment – input comes in the form of elected official engagement, Community Board meetings, and 311 calls.
• DOT and contractor staff engage regularly with the public at the various sites as maintenance work is on-going throughout the year
• For communities where capital projects are being implemented, such as large-scale median reconstruction projects, plans are presented to community boards and adjusted based on local feedback.

Implementation of this program followed years of advocacy and research on best practices for landscape maintenance in right-of-way settings. Pulling on lessons learned from Business Improvement Districts, park conservancies, and cities from around the country, agency staff developed contract specifications to guide the work.

In 2017, DOT released a one-year maintenance contract for a small segment of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. This initial effort met an urgent need ahead of planned capital reconstruction and offered the program an opportunity to test project specifications in practice. Insights from the initial contract have been utilized to refine future contracts, with a key takeaway being the value of issuing contracts at a manageable scale to attract a wider range of qualified companies to deliver the services.

Work has since expanded to multiple corridors in the Bronx as well as Brooklyn and continues to evolve to support upcoming capital projects, fulfill agency goals, and comply with regulatory requirements including but not limited to the Unified Stormwater Rules and Local Law 94 of 2024. DOT also continues to refine the project specifications to improve overall outcomes and follow evolving best practices in landscape care.

As a result of this program, DOT now maintains seven acres of greenspace in the public right-of-way, an amount equivalent to the size of Herbert Von King Park in Brooklyn. Building on the initial success of the program, DOT has an additional seven acres planned in upcoming projects, ensuring the creation of these planted spaces in areas that would otherwise be concrete or hardscape.

With the implementation of landscaped area along these corridors, communities enjoy the social, economic, and environmental benefits that plantings afford. Review Benefits of Plantings in the Right-of-Way.  

Beyond the significant benefits to the communities where this work is occurring, the ongoing challenge of maintaining plantings in harsh roadway conditions provides a unique understanding of plant resilience and adaptability. This insight strengthens DOT’s ability to deliver quality streetscape designs that enhance the public realm, support environmental sustainability, and align with our Street Design Principles. Lessons learned from plant performance in the right-of-way have informed the development of key resources, including the Plant Finder, updates to standard Plant Specifications, and guidance within this Manual, ensuring that streetscape designs are both resilient and responsive to the diverse needs of New Yorkers. Ultimately, this program allows for a critical feedback loop where real-world maintenance experience informs future capital projects leading to more successful landscapes in communities that need them the most.

Landscape maintenance crew, including trainees prepare to plant along Tillary Street, Brooklyn.