Queens Botanical Garden is getting $12 million to replace the greenhouses it has relied on since the 1960s, and the new ones will do something the old ones never did: let the public inside. The garden announced the funding on Nov. 2, after a state check presented at the garden on Oct. 30 grew by $2 million on the spot.

The plan is two new greenhouses on the garden's Main Street grounds in Flushing, built with current climate controls and fully accessible, holding tropical and annual collections that will be partly open to visitors. According to the garden, it will be the first time in its history that the public can walk through its growing houses and see what is cultivated there year-round.

Why the old greenhouses are being replaced

The current greenhouses are more than half a century old. Earlier in 2026, on one of the coldest weekends of the winter, they lost heat. The garden lost hundreds of plants as a result, among them mature banana trees, along with orchids, seedlings, tender annuals and other warm-weather species that spend the cold months under glass.

The garden says it was not the first time the aging greenhouses had failed, but it was the worst, and it set off the search for money to rebuild rather than repair.

Where the $12 million comes from

The core of the funding is $10 million from New York State. Assembly Member Nily Rozic, who represents the area, took up the request after meeting with the garden's executive director, Evie Hantzopoulos, in Albany, and the money was secured with support from Governor Kathy Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

At the Oct. 30 announcement at the garden, Heastie added another $2 million, which brought the greenhouse total to $12 million.

Two other pots of money are going into the garden at the same time:

  • $500,000 in federal funding that Rep. Grace Meng allocated for the greenhouse project and other capital improvements in fiscal year 2024.
  • $2.25 million in state capital funding from a group of Queens Assembly members and State Senator John Liu, for work on the Rose Garden, the visitor bathrooms, and the garden's perimeter and interior gates and fencing.

What changes for visitors

Today the greenhouses are working space, out of public view. The new ones are designed so that part of the tropical and annual collections can be seen by visitors, with year-round programs and learning built around them. In practice, that means a warm room full of tropical plants to walk through in the middle of a Queens winter.

The garden has not yet published a construction schedule or an opening date for the new greenhouses. Those will be the next things to watch for on its news page.

Visiting Queens Botanical Garden now

The garden is at 43-50 Main Street in Flushing, a walk south from the Flushing-Main Street stop at the end of the 7 line. Admission from April 1 through December 15 is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors 62 and older and for students with ID, $2 for children 4 through 12, and free for children 3 and under and for members. From December 16 through March 31, admission is free.

The garden's phone number is 718-886-3800, and its events calendar lists what is on each week through the fall.

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