“Garden of Jew Hate” Gets Yanked: City Shuts Down Radical Ridgewood Plot Over Anti-Israel Pledge, Woke Agenda

(TJV NEWS) In a dramatic crackdown on what critics have dubbed a “political garden masquerading as a public space,” the New York City Parks Department has officially revoked the license of a controversial Queens community garden that required members to pledge allegiance to Palestine, The New York Post reports.

The Sunset Community Garden, located at the intersection of Onderdonk and Willoughby avenues in Ridgewood, was told to clear out by June 6 after officials determined its ideological membership requirements violated Parks Department rules. The decision came eight months after The Post first exposed the garden’s radical agenda and pro-Palestinian messaging.

The garden’s so-called “community agreements” were at the center of the firestorm. Ironically, one tenet committed to rejecting “all forms of hate,” even as the garden erected a “Poppies for Palestine” section and shared extremist slogans on social media — including the infamous “From the River to the Sea,” widely recognized as a call for the elimination of Israel. The Post reports that the site even featured an altar to a trans activist and encouraged members to prioritize identity-based language, demanding everyone “celebrate queer, trans, disabled, immigrant, and richly melanated bodies.”

The Parks Department said in a statement that it acted after the group required prospective members to adhere to a political ideology as a condition of entry, something strictly against policy for city-operated community gardens.

“Public community gardens are for everyone, not just those who pass a political litmus test,” said Queens Councilman Robert Holden, who represents the area. “If this group of radicals wants to create an exclusive space, they should purchase private land and do it on their own time and dime.” The New York Post reports that Holden has been vocal in demanding the city take action.

The garden, founded in September 2023 with city funding and support from the nonprofit GrowNYC, was initially billed as an inclusive space for neighbors to grow food and build community. But within months, local residents say it was hijacked by activists who turned the space into a hotbed of divisive ideology. One early supporter, Christina Wilkinson, told The Post the place “was hijacked by crazies.”

Critics argue the garden’s political messaging, combined with anti-Israel rhetoric and a rigid ideological litmus test, alienated Jewish community members and violated the spirit of public space. One Ridgewood resident, Sara Schraeter-Mowersglad, said she finally feels hopeful now that the city stepped in. “This should be a welcoming space for everyone — not one that makes Jewish people feel unsafe in their own neighborhood,” she told The Post.

But garden organizers aren’t backing down quietly. They blasted the city on Instagram, accusing officials of being “racist transphobes and Zionists,” and have launched a petition accusing the Parks Department of “retaliation” and “weaponized bureaucracy.” According to The Post, they’re threatening legal action and urging supporters to call elected officials to save the space.

Until a new manager takes over, access to the garden will remain limited. Parks officials said a new group will be selected to run the space — provided it agrees to uphold the basic principle that public gardens are for everyone, regardless of politics.

The city’s action, The New York Post notes, sends a clear message: taxpayer-funded green spaces are not platforms for political extremism — no matter how “progressive” the branding.