Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation

Lobbying client

The nonprofit that operates Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a 52-acre public garden in central Brooklyn that opened in 1911 for horticulture, plant-science research, and public education. In fiscal year 2024 the city cut its Department of Cultural Affairs funding by roughly 15 percent, and the garden's leadership publicly objected, warning of a roughly $1 million operating deficit. It is registered to lobby citywide and has filed 15 disclosures since 2024 through Kasirer LLC, entirely on NYC budget funding, reaching 18 council members, and has held $58.4 million in city contracts since 2009, $621,818 of it active as of August 2026.

Council members lobbied
18 (citywide)
Filings (since 2024)
15
Lobbying compensation (since 2024)
$186,000
Industry (per city contracts)
Construction Services
City contracts (active)
$621,818 · 1 contract
Awarded all-time
$58,446,311 · 28 since 2009, incl. expired
Paid to date
$57,421,052
Won without a fresh bid
99% of contract value · $57,769,940 · 24 contracts
Discretionary funding (FY2009-FY2027)
$2,153,040 · 58 awards
Funding history
Funded 14 years (FY2012–FY2027), including each of the last 11
Top officer pay (FY2024)
$393,327 · Adrian Benepe, President
Based in
Brooklyn, NY

Represented by lobbyist firms

Holds contracts at

Funded by these agencies

What they lobbied on

subjects from their filings

City contracts

Registered city contracts, largest first by current contract value (not amount spent): running now, then registered to start later, then ended. Totals count every registered contract. Each line shows its Checkbook contract ID. The tag on each row is how it was awarded (“no-bid” = non-competitive).

Largest payments, by purpose

The organization's largest individual city payments (roughly $25,000 and up), grouped by purpose, to show what recent money was for. This is NOT a total — smaller payments aren't listed; see “Paid to date” above for the complete amount paid against its contracts. Fiscal years 2020 and later.

Discretionary funding received

City Council discretionary (member-item) awards, largest first. Covers FY2009-FY2027.

Funded by these council members

City Council members who steered discretionary (member-item) money to this organization, largest first (FY2020 and later, where the sponsoring member is disclosed). Sitting members link to their page.

Officer & key-staff pay

Reportable compensation from this organization's IRS Form 990 (Part VII), latest available filing (FY2024). Includes pay from related organizations where reported; an annual figure, not a running total. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

Officer pay over time

Total officer pay changed +24% from FY2020 to FY2024. Top-officer reportable compensation by year (org-paid only), with each year's share of total revenue. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer 990 filings.

Federal awards

Federal awards made directly to this organization in fiscal years 2023 through 2026. Each amount is what the federal government has OBLIGATED on that award as recorded on USAspending.gov as of 2026-08-31 — money committed, not money paid out. These are prime awards only: federal money this

Sources