Greener in New York - NYTimes.com Re " A Greener Approach to Runoff" (editorial, March 16): What makes this new investment notably innovative is not its mission to create green infrastructure but its approach to public-private partnerships as a necessity to achieve it. Traditionally, the onus of land improvement is placed on the New York City government, but the city is not the only entity to own land. This new bottom-up approach completely shifts this perception and engages landowners in the process of city improvement. While one city agency may not undertake work on land controlled by another agency, private entities can and will. This plan alleviates the long-established "silo" behavior imbedded in city bureaucracies by encouraging private landowners and others to work cross-jurisdictionally. As the recipient of a green infrastructure grant from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the New York Restoration Project serves as a demonstration of this type of public-private partnership. We plan to use the grant to renovate the Carroll Street Community Garden in Brooklyn by including features to capture the tens of thousands of gallons of storm water that frequently flood this neighborhood. This is the first plan of its kind in a city community garden. We have long recognized the benefits of the city's urban forest; devising plans on multiple scales to reduce pollution and protect water quality is a major step toward transforming New York into the modern, and smart, city we say it is. AMY L. FREITAG Executive Director New York Restoration Project New York, March 16, 2012