New York, NY - Urban Archive

South of Union Square

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Doing Their Part: Victory Gardens of New York City

While the fighting of World War II remained on the other side of the ocean, the effects of the war were deeply felt in New York City. Wartime ramifications included serious food shortages, as much American-grown food was being shipped overseas for troops and allies abroad.

By 1943, the government had created a push for the cultivation of private lands for locally grown crops. These "victory gardens" sprouted up (pun intended) all over the city. The statistics for New York victory gardens were impressive: 400,000 victory gardens on 600 acres of private land which, over the course of the war, produced 200 million pounds of vegetables!

Check out the bounty of New York's wartime farmers!

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Urban Archive

1

3517 Avenue R

3517 Avenue R

Many New York neighborhoods organized local branches of Civilian Defense Volunteer Office (or C.D.V.O). Sophie Duhme, seen here, was the Victory Garden Chairwoman of the Flatlands C.D.V.O. This particular garden was planted on a lot donated by the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Flatbush.

2

110-06 Ocean Promenade

110-06 Ocean Promenade

These young women were Girl Scouts and patients at the Convalescent Home for Hebrew Children in Rockaway Park.

3

98th Street Victory Garden

98th Street Victory Garden

These young girls are showing off their preserved fruits and veggies. The Long Island Rail Road leased the land near the right-of-way in Woodhaven at no cost to families that wished to tend a garden. The LIRR also urged its 7,000+ employees to create or get involved with local gardens and even produced a pamphlet on the topic.

4

Pride of Judea Children's Home

Pride of Judea Children's Home

This victory garden was located at the Pride of Judea Children's Home, a 1923-established Jewish residential home for children.

5

Manual Training School

Manual Training School

New York City's children were not only tasked with being gardeners; here science students test the Brooklyn soil as part of victory garden preparations. 🔬

6

Abraham & Straus

Abraham & Straus

During the war, the Fulton Street department store Abraham & Strauss hosted an A' & S Victory Fair where victory gardeners displayed their prize-winning vegetables. 🌽🥕🥔

7

West Flatbush Victory Garden

West Flatbush Victory Garden

The woman with the ENORMOUS cabbage is Elka Israel, the chairwoman of the West Flatbush C.D.V. O. Victory Garden Committee, with her husband Abraham.

8

81-18 Northern Boulevard

81-18 Northern Boulevard

The block on the south side of Northern Boulevard between 81st and 82nd Street is now occupied by low-rise commercial buildings and an apartment complex but during the Second World War, this large plot likely produced a considerable yield of produce.

9

70 East 77th Street

70 East 77th Street

Some of the victory gardens were not large or even in the ground. This small planter sat on the roof of a penthouse on the Upper East Side.

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