Notice: there will be a meeting about this project on November 11, 2015. RSVP today!

Smiling Hogshead Ranch was initiated in 2011 as an unpermitted (guerrilla) garden, but our action prompted the MTA to accept and facilitate community use of the portion of the property that they no longer actively utilized. In 2014, we entered into an agreement which made our community farm official.

In September 2015, the MTA/LIRR released a Request For Expressions of Interest (RFEI) to adaptively reuse the rail line behind Smiling Hogshead Ranch, spanning from the Sunnyside Railyard to the Dutch Kill: 5 parcels spanning .69 miles and encompassing 4.2 acres.

Smiling Hogshead Ranch, 596 Acres and Citizens Committee for NYC are bringing together community partners in Western Queens to collaboratively guide the vision for the adaptive reuse of this post industrial land. We need to come up with a strategy to fund all these wonderful things, too. It’s a great challenge!
By working together we amplify our power, increase our positive impact, and wield the true power of our community. Let’s do this together!

Why We Think This is Awesome

Just across the Newtown Creek from Greenpoint in Long Island City, Smiling Hogshead Ranch has shown what can happen when a group of people can organize and work together with each other and with the city agencies to form a thriving community space. With this RFEI, the city has the opportunity to show that it values community interests over commercialization, and we are excited to support Smiling Hogshead Ranch and their partners in navigating this process for the good of the city and the people of Queens.