We are rebuilding the Brooklyn College garden after a prior garden had to be reconfigured due to long-planned additions to our athletic facilities. The community was very upset, and we have worked hard to include them in the work of planning and establishing the new garden; gardens should not cause strife -- they should bring people together. The new BC Garden will enhance the College's academic mission and foster partnerships with gardeners from the college (students including current and future K-12 teachers, staff, and faculty), the neighborhood, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, other Brooklyn Gardens and the many organizations in NYC with compatible missions and goals. The garden is pretty much a blank slate now and will take time to develop. We are in our in the early stages, but interest and progress have been remarkable. Our first task is to establish final plans for the garden's layout and build components such as a three-bin composting system, a storage shed and paths and common areas from recycled brick and pavers. The garden will create a place where the college and neighboring community can come together to learn about urban gardening best practices and grow fruits, flowers, herbs and vegetables in individual and shared plots. We will offer a model for aspects of urban sustainability such as composting, irrigation, and the educational uses of urban gardens. We also plan to create ornamental areas in the garden and on the adjacent street to beautify what has long been the "back door" to the college. The garden we are building will employ native, drought-tolerant plants that are bird and insect friendly.