A thing of beauty - again!
Stretch in Bedford-Stuyvesant wins the coveted title of Greenest Block in boro
BY JOYCE SHELBYDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, August 8th 2007, 4:00 AM

They did it again!
The residents of MacDonough St. between Lewis and Stuyvesant Aves. planted and artfully nurtured enough petunias, sunflowers, coleuses, mums, sweet potato vines, morning glories, impatiens and hydrangeas to once again be named the Greenest Block in Brooklyn.
The Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstoners, who also took the title in 2003, proudly showed off their green thumbs yesterday at a ceremony on their block.
"This block looks like Virginia, where I grew up," said Mildred Vann, who lives on the winning street. When she had to go out of town, she got help keeping her garden green from her husband, City Councilman Al Vann.
"When I came back, my plants looked better than they had when I left," Mildred Vann said.
About 235 residential and commercial blocks - and 23,500 people - participated in the 13th annual beautification contest, said Brooklyn Botanic Garden President Scot Medbury.
"Nobody loses in this great contest," Medbury said.
The friendly competition among neighbors is sponsored by the BBG, the Brooklyn borough president's office and the Independence Community Foundation, with support from the Sovereign Endowment Fund.
Borough President Marty Markowitz boasted at yesterday's ceremony, "Our residents are turning Brooklyn into an oasis that we all can enjoy."
About 225 people live on this year's winning block. Wilma Atwell, who heads the beautification committee, said more neighbors than ever turned out to plant, prune, water and weed.
"The block is gorgeous," Atwell said as she admired the verdant street. It has about 50 homes and the Akwaaba Mansion. St. Philip's Episcopal Church stands in the middle of the block. A memorial park owned by Mount Lebanon Baptist Church is on one corner.
Gail Dixon of the E. 49th St. Block Association was impressed by the variety of plants and flowers the MacDonough St. residents chose.
"They deserved to win," Dixon said. Her group got first place in a new category, Best Street Tree Beds.
Other winners were: the Hoyt St. Victory Garden Block Association, between Atlantic Ave. and State St. in Boerum Hill, for the Best Commercial Block; the Miracle Grill, Seventh Ave. at Third St., Park Slope, for the Greenest Storefront; Wendy Weekes of E. 38th St., East Flatbush, for the Best Window Box, and Gloria Lormonie-Arnell of Rutland Road, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, for the Best Greenbridge Window Box Kit.
For a complete list of winners, visit www.bbg.org.
jshelby@nydailynews.com