Swale
Floating Food Forest | 2016–2020 | NYC Waterways
Swale is a floating public food forest initiated by Mary Mattingly in 2016 to explore food as a shared civic resource and challenge laws prohibiting food production on New York City’s public land. Constructed on a repurposed barge and docked at locations across the city, Swale invited the public to harvest edible, perennial plants for free, transforming the act of gathering food into an artwork of public imagination, ecological education, and policy advocacy.
Navigating marine common law, Swale bypassed public land-use restrictions to reclaim access to healthy food as a right, not a commodity. Positioned between sculpture and infrastructure, it served as a living artwork, a tool for policy change, and a floating platform for foraging and community engagement.
Project Details
- Years: 2016–2019
- Locations: Concrete Plant Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Governors Island, Brooklyn Army Terminal, and other NYC waterways
- Collaborators: Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Bronx River Alliance, NYC Parks, More Art, Bronx River Alliance, A Blade of Grass, the Swale team
- Support: A Blade of Grass Fellowship, Kickstarter Supporters, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, local community groups
- Materials: Repurposed barge, perennial edible plants, rainwater collection, solar pump irrigation, signage, dock infrastructure
“I grew up in an agricultural town where the water was polluted. That framed my understanding of clean water as increasingly rare—and something we must protect together. Swale began out of a personal need to connect with New York’s waterways and public lands, and to imagine systems of care rooted in access. Onboard Swale, perceptions shift. The structure starts to feel like land itself. People begin to see food and water not as commodities, but as commons—something we share and steward. That shift in perspective is essential in the work of imagination. Swale has become a tool for advocacy, and for envisioning forms of food sovereignty in public space.” - Mattingly
Project Description
Launched in 2016, Swale was built in response to a law that prohibits growing or harvesting food on NYC’s public land. As a floating sculpture, Swale operated outside of those boundaries, governed instead by marine common law. It functioned simultaneously as artwork, ecological infrastructure, and civic proposal.
Swale hosted over 80 species of edible perennials including fruit trees, herbs, and medicinal plants. There, it invited the public to pick food for free. By docking at various public piers and partnering with local organizations, it created new conversations around food access, land rights, and urban ecology.
In 2017, as a direct outcome of Swale and the work of local partners, the NYC Parks Department launched its first on-land “Foodway” at Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx. This public food access site continues to evolve under community stewardship.
Though Swale was decommissioned during the COVID-19 pandemic, its next phase is currently in development—a permanent floating platform that reimagines edible infrastructure and responds to sea level rise.
Installation Views & Media
Swale docked at Concrete Plant Park, 2016, photo by RAVA Films
Visitors harvesting food at Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2017
Swale from above: growing beds and solar-powered irrigation system
A Floating Food Forest – video by A Blade of Grass, 2016
CBS, BRIC TV, and NPR news segments
→ Watch Videos
→ www.swalenyc.org
CBS News documentary about Swale in 2017, interviewing Naseem Haamid from NY State's Summer Youth Employment Program
In 2018, Steve De Seve visits Swale with BRIC TVDuring Swale's first year, news orgs help spread the word Amanda McDonald Crowley films Swale's first celebration.
Selected Press
NPR | New York Times | Washington Post | Art in America | Hyperallergic | New York Observer | Metro New York | Smithsonian | Brooklyn Based | PSFK | The Atlantic | Morning News USA | The Huffington Post | The Wall Street Journal | ABC1 | ABC2 | Art in America 2
Support Swale
A new iteration of Swale is currently in development, launching in 2025.
→ Donate to Swale to help launch the next barge
→ View Limited Edition Print Fundraiser
