Rapper 50 Cent and Bette Midler teamed up in 2007 to revive a neglected quarter-acre lot in Jamaica, Queens. The Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson Community Garden opened in November 2008 and now hosts gardening classes, youth programs, open-mic nights and yoga.
The 30 raised beds include peach, apple, plum, cherry and nectarine trees. An underground cistern supplies rainwater for irrigation; six 10-foot blue funnels catch rain and provide shade. A solar-powered pump and new beds were added in 2020 with support from Walter Hood and the Knight Foundation, and a walkway trellis was added this year.
50 Cent’s G-Unity Foundation underwrote the garden’s costs, and teams worked with landscape architect Walter Hood on its design. Open volunteer sessions take place on Sunday afternoons from April through late October.
