Rendering, Floating Garden
Public Food, Water, and Land in NYC.
Growing or picking food on New York City's public land has been off-limits for almost a century.
Swale is an experiential and educational food forest built on a barge that utilizes marine common law to circumvent NYC's public land laws. Its next phase, Floating Garden, opens June 6 as part of the inaugural Medina Triennial in Medina, NY, before making its way to New York City later in 2026. While working to shift policies that will increase the presence of edible perennial public lands, Swale's Floating Garden continues to build stewardship of public waterways and land.
While working to shift policies that will increase the presence of edible perennial public lands, Swale’s Floating Garden can continue to help build stewardship of public waterways and land.
Swale is always docked at a pier, except when it’s in transit to another pier. This photograph was captured between NYC piers as Swale was heading to Brooklyn, 2017.