Lincoln Road: the winning block.

Who is the greenest of them all? Why, Lincoln Road between Bedford and Rogers Avenues! The Prospect-Lefferts Gardens block has won the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual Greenest Block competition, claiming the title for the second time in the last four years and inspiring envy across the borough.

A total of 173 Brooklyn blocks tended street tree pits, stoop plants, window boxes and tiny front yards in a bid to wow the judges. Judges pared down the competition to eight finalists during several tours around the borough, studying blocks' community participation, horticulture practice, care of street trees, plant variety, color and visual effect, sustainability, soil and mulching to make their determinations.

The commercial winners in this year's contest were Ditmas Park's Cortelyou Road between Westminster Road and Argyle Road and Flatbush's Newkirk Plaza between Newkirk and Foster Avenues. Both the residential and commercial blocks receive $300, and more importantly, bragging rights.

So what did Lincoln Road do to take the coveted title? The Botanic Garden noted the block's beautiful and meticulously maintained curbside gardens, excellent horticulture maintenance, high participation from block residents (approximately 75 of 80 houses took part) and—a competitive stroke of genius, really—a communal children's garden.

The block's efforts to involve all residents also impressed the judges: the block association has an annual Wine & Dirt event and children's plant label-painting parties.

Two blocks tied for second place: Bed-Stuy's MacDonough Street between Stuyvesant and Lewis Avenues and Park Slope's 8th Street between 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West. Third place went to Bed-Stuy's Bainbridge Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Stuyvesant Avenue.

So as not to discourage the other blocks too much, the winning block will be ineligible next year. However, block association president Tolonda Tolbert warned of even greater greening in the release announcing her block's victory.

"We plan to keep inventing ways for residents to get involved," she announced.

kvelsey@observer.com

Besides a plaque, the title of greenest block comes with $300 and most importantly, boasting rights in a borough where greenness and sustainability can be a blood sport.

“The point is the greening up, not the winning,” said Robin Simmen, the director of the GreenBridge, the Botanic Garden’s community horticulture program, which has been organizing the competition since 1995. “But there are always people who are really interested in the winning.”

Designed to encourage community development through horticulture, the contest rewards teamwork. Streets must enter through block associations and are judged on their collaboration as much as their rose bushes and rhododendron. Judges love when residents rave about the joy of connecting with their neighbors through gardening, but they also look for proof—shared compost piles, clippings from one neighbor's garden sprouting in another's, communal planters lining the sidewalks. Ambition blooms alongside the asters and the hibiscus; the spirit is one of community-mindedness, but a competitive community-mindedness.

When the three judges arrived at Lefferts Avenue Thursday afternoon, they'd already been zipping around the borough for hours—studying residents’ mastery of mulching techniques and plant management, dispensing encouragement and advice and trying to determine who deserved to number among the eight finalists. Lefferts Avenue was their seventh stop of the day—one of the 41 semifinalists that had been plucked from a pool of 173 entrants. Fortunately, the judges showed no sign of fatigue, not even landscape designer and urban gardening guru Robin Horton, who clomped up and down the streets with a broken foot.

The judges seemed impressed with the efforts of Ms. Hebbard and her neighbors, who had, as bidden, emerged from their homes to form an impromptu welcoming committee. Participation levels were way up; the block had even banded together to tend the garden of a neighbor who had died recently. A profusion of laminated signs sprouting from the street tree pits asking people to curb their dogs caused some initial confusion—were they green or not green? The question was settled by Ms. Simmen, who was acting for the day as community ambassador. She explained that such signs definitely fell into the green category, as they showed both teamwork and an educational bent. (Dog pee, especially a lot of it, kills plants.)

“Great block,” whispered judge Kate Blumm (and also the garden's communications manager)  as the judges hopped back in the van. “We’ve seen blocks that are more picture perfect, but that’s not what the competition is about in its entirety.”

Besides community participation, blocks are judged on horticulture practice, care of their street trees, soil and mulching, maintenance, plant variety, sustainability (native plants get extra points), color and visual effect. Judges (all volunteers during the semi-final round) are warned not to fall under the sway of beautiful architecture, but to consider how well blocks use what they have—a factor that many less-than-lovely blocks try to play up to their advantage.

One Park Slope block off Flatbush Avenue—was downright dishy about its disadvantages when judges visited. "We used to have a bench here for the homeless people to sleep on," said resident Steven Gilroy, as he clutched a remnant of the recently-destroyed bench. "Although sometimes they did more than sleep," he gestured at the wall of the adjoining building. "You can see the stain from defecation."

Weighing such problems can be rather subjective.  “We use a numeric rating system, but it’s honestly more an art than a science,” Ms. Simmen noted. Still, when it comes to technique, there is very little to quibble over. The Observer watched as one judge, leaning in to examine the state of a tree pit a tree pit, commented dryly: "Oh, that's not very good mulching." A second judge dipped attentively toward the earth with an appraising squint before straightening up in shock, much like someone who has taken a big whiff of questionable milk to find that it has soured completely. "Oh no! That's bad mulching," she exclaimed in alarm.

On Bainbridge Street in Bed-Stuy, one of the last stops of the day, block association president emeritus and retired teacher Gary Shuford told judges that they'd missed seeing the block's most avid gardeners—a troop of neighborhood children—in action.

"I wish you could have seen us two hours ago!" Mr. Shuford lamented, gazing down his street of brownstones, lush with black-eyed susans and cheerful hand-painted banners. The scene would have been eerily edenic if not for an active construction site on one end serving as a reminder that one was, in fact, standing in the middle of Brooklyn.

"One of the biggest highlights is being able to involve local youth," Mr. Shuford gushed. "Honestly, it's been win-win."

Speaking of winning... The Observer wondered if Bainbridge, a two-time runner-up for the title, was hoping for more than just a moral victory this year. If they had, perhaps, stepped things up in order to best their competitors.

"I'm going to be honest with you. Each year the competition gets stiffer," Mr. Shuford replied, adding that MacDonough Street, a few streets down and a two-time winner, was their main competitor. "They got started with the competition before us. They've encouraged us, we've encouraged others; they're making the whole corridor something we can be proud of."

Did Mr. Shuford ever walk down MacDonough Street we asked, just to see what tricks his competition might be up to?

He nodded solemnly. "All the time."

kvelsey@observer.com

As New York heads into summer,  the competition for philanthropic dollars heats up. Arts groups (not to mention botanical gardens) are increasingly trying to outdo each other with ever-more-lavish and leafy events, several of them held back-to-back in coming weeks.

Here, a guide to these tony garden parties - the only places in New York where seersucker isn't tainted by irony.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Centennial Gala

June 7

The Botanic Garden's summer gala is not just one garden party, but three. Commencing with cocktails in the herb garden at 5:30, it will migrate to the rose garden (more cocktails) and the cherry esplanade (food), making the centennial celebration a kind of pub crawl for exceptionally well-dressed adults. Mayor Bloomberg will be in attendance, performing selected monologues from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Well, not quite, but he will offer welcoming remarks. Tickets start at $200. Garden-lovers who'd prefer to skip the gala can plan a visit based on the Web site, www.bbg.org, which posts which flowers are in bloom.

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

Members' Garden Party

June 15

Cooper-Hewitt has always vied with the Frick (see below) for the title of Museum Mile's most adorable back garden, and this summer they will both flex their muscles with outdoor parties a month apart. The Cooper-Hewitt's is members only and offers access to its sweeping Triennial exhibition-"Why Design Now?"-and equally importantly, to the always-spectacular gift shop. Wine-addled guests are politely requested to refrain from sliding down the wood banister of the stately main staircase. Individual membership costs $75.

The Frick Collection

Garden Party

July 15

Started in 2008, the Frick's annual garden party is (according to the institution's own press release) "one of the most memorable social events of the year." Whether that's true or not, the party does offer access to the otherwise rarely open elevated garden, which flanks the historic mansion on its Fifth Avenue side. All proceeds of this event go to the museum foundation, and guests are invited to inspect a new exhibition about the museum itself. Self-centered? Perhaps. But if your house were that nice, you'd be the same way. Tickets start at $150.

The High Line

Cocktails on the High Line

June 21, 6 PM

Some partiers might argue that if summer in New York has a fault, it is the NYPD's negative stance on drinking in public parks. If you are among them, the Friends of the High Line have come to your rescue. Attendees at this benefit can toast the sunset outdoors in the so-called Chelsea Grasslands, and then see a preview screening of A Bell for Every Minute, a film by avant-garde director Stephen Vitiello. Dinner follows at equally avant-garde auction house Phillips de Pury & Company. Tickets start at $1,000.

The Morgan Library & Museum

Panel discussion

June 2

Not a party, and not a garden, either, but the Morgan Library this week opens the show "Romantic Gardens: Nature, Art, and Landscape Design." It's about the "scenic vistas, winding paths, bucolic meadows, and rustic retreats" of the public parks and private estates of the late 1700s and early 1800s. There will be artwork, books and even contemporary photographs of gardens. On June 2 at 6:30 p.m., the museum hosts a panel on contemporary landscape design that discusses the High Line, among other city projects. Tickets are $10 for members, and $15 for non-members.

The Museum of Modern Art

Party in the Garden

May 25

The Modern, post-Tim Burton, has turned cool: They've booked Karen O and Nick Zinner, of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as entertainment for their annual swanky Party in the Garden. Tickets start at $1,000 per person, but after-party access, and the same glorious views of the backyard Henry Moores, can be had for $100. Social climbers, take note: This benefit will be attended by Agnes Gund, Jerry Speyer, the Lauders, the Kravises and the (Leon) Blacks. It's like an Edith Wharton novel, with cell phones.

P.S.1

Greater New York Opening

May 23

Several of these summer parties are pricey, but the suggested donation here is a comfortable $5. Greater New York, P.S.1's marquee summer opening, is a survey of the best art produced locally in the past five years, and they're celebrating with one of their trademark Sunday afternoon open-air parties. No garden, per se, but lots of room and good, sweaty fun. Dress code is T-shirts, not black tie. Performance artist Terence Koh takes the stage at 3; if that's not your thing, come at 4 for the DJ set.

New York Botanical Garden

Conservatory Ball

June 3

The Botanical Garden, in the Bronx adjacent to the zoo and Fordham University, is so expansive that it's easy to forget the city altogether. You could easily mistake the surroundings for the nature park of a medium-size town somewhere far, far away. The illusion is upped at the annual Conservatory Ball, which offers after-dinner dancing in the glass-enclosed Victorian-era conservatory. Tickets start at $1,500. Disaffected garden lovers who can't afford the ball can commune with angst-queen poet Emily Dickinson, as the garden's lush Poetry of Flowers exhibition, based on the writer's work, is open through June 13.

Socrates Sculpture Park

Makers Market

June 5 and 6, all afternoon

If you call this Long Island City park, they answer the phone, cheerily, "Socrates!" Which seems to bode well. It happens to be one of the loveliest parks in the city, a waterfront gem with skyline views and year-round art installations. Their Makers Market is an upscale, design-heavy crafts fair. Admission is free, and shuttle buses will be leaving regularly from the Asia Society on Park Avenue and 70th Street.

Wave Hill

Spring Gala

May 26

Besides offering some of the finest Hudson River views in the city, Wave Hill garden does parties, too. For this year's gala, along with the traditional cocktails and dinner, they're opening up the Dessert Room, whose name, we hope, is not a misnomer. There, about 250 guests will enjoy live samba and bossa nova, taking in after-dinner drinks to steel themselves for the long ride home on the No. 1 train, or for the limo ride. Tickets are $500. For daytime visitors, the May highlights include flowering dogwood, Chinese wisteria, bluebells and crab apples.

wakers@observer.com

Here we are back with another photo stroll, this time in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights: a pizza slice of a neighborhood just east of Park Slope, with the southern crust formed by Eastern Parkway, the other edge defined by Washington Avenue, and the point located at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. Okay, for those who know their geography, it's a funny pizza slice. If we had better art or computer skills we'd draw it for you. But you can find it on a map pretty easily.

It's a neighborhood of tree-lined streets and rehabbed row houses slashed through with broad avenues. The southern part has grand apartment buildings; the northern edge tends to have more vacant lots and large warehouses. These are located within the proposed footprint for Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, and are often cited as evidence that the area is blighted. It is hard to imagine, however, that anywhere within this pizza slice would remain blighted for long. Come inside and see for yourself ...

Lady Liberty! What are you doing here? Behind the musum stands a 37-foot high replica that was originally situated atop the Liberty Warehouse on West 64th Street.

Around the corner and down Washington Avenue, one of a dwindling number of West Indian food stores, complete with sidewalk grill for the summer.

Shoes hanging from wires at intersections (here, Washington Avenue and St. John's) mean "Welcome to the Neighborhood."

Hey, you almost thought you were in Park Slope, no?

Tom's Restaurant, famous for having been ringed by neighbors holding hands during one of Brooklyn's racial disturbances in years past. The current owner, however, will tell you, "Don't believe everything you read."

A community garden on St. Marks Avenue. This is the rough-and-ready Red Hook-y side of the nabe.

Alexandre Tchistov and Jared Greenhouse, co-owners of Sorrel restaurant on Carlton Avenue. This is the chi-chi, West Village-y side of the nabe.

A vigil inside Freddy's, ground zero of the anti-Ratner movement, and one of several businesses that will be displaced if Atlantic Yards moves forward. Get the double entendre here?

And finally, the M.T.A.'s Vanderbilt Yard, described by Atlantic Yards supporters as an open wound dividing Prospect Heights from Fort Greene, would be covered over for that project and bedecked with Frank Gehry buildings.

—Words and Pictures By Matthew Schuerman