Operation Green Thumb comes to Sunset Park as a senior works tirelessly to beautify area 

Sam “The Green Thumb Man” Oh has been planting gardens on Fourth Avenue and 63^rd Street for over a year

A senior citizen is beautifying a small area in Sunset Park thanks to his passion for gardening.

Sam Oh, 65, is known by many locals as Sam “The Green Thumb” Man. A resident of the Sunset Ridge, 408 Fourth Ave., an 84-unit senior affordable housing development, he has been planting and maintaining several gardens for a year and a half.

He started planting at several nearby tree pits, then expanded to growing flowers and plants all over Fourth Avenue and 63rd Street, including the former Rite Aid building, which is currently vacant, P.S. 971 K, and a B9 bus stop. He even grew flowers at the building’s terrace.

For Oh, it started when, over a year ago, he saw tons of garbage outside.

“When I looked outside from my apartment at the street and sidewalk, there was so much garbage, like tires, broken air conditioners, especially near the tree last year,” he said. “I saw nobody was helping. The garbage pile was only getting bigger. One day in the wintertime, I cleaned up the garbage and threw it away, but the next day it started again.”

After that, he tried to figure out ways he could fix areas around the building.

“That’s why I said if I do a flower garden, maybe people will notice and won’t [litter],” Oh said. “Then I did it in front of the school. One day, I went down there to see how I could help.”

He grew up in Korea and said neighbors did their best to help each other keep the areas clean.

“Every morning, all the neighbors came down around the school,” Oh explained. “We would clean around the villages and the schools. It’s a long tradition in Korea. Old neighbors would chip in some money in the spring and buy some flowers and trees for the school.

The kids grow up and they [would] do the same thing. It goes from generation to generation.”

He wanted to bring that same culture to the area, and for the last year and a half, he has done just that. Starting at 5 a.m. most days, he would throw away trash and grow flowers around trees on 63^rd Street. Some flowers he grows include lilies, roses and sunflowers. Despite having screws in his back that result in severe pain, Oh consistently volunteers to work in the area.

Many locals, including sanitation workers, bus drivers and school drivers, know him by name, say hello, and even help.

“Even at the construction site, the [workers] thanked me one day and gave me cold water,” he said. “Some kids help me at 63rd street and make signs and put them near the tree pits.”

Some neighbors are so impressed with his work and dedication, they ask for tips or even help with their own gardens.

“Even some neighbors want to make a better garden than ours,” Oh said. “They ask me for advice, like what kind of flowers. There are some spots with no sunlight. I tried to help them. I met one guy jogging on Fourth Avenue in the morning. He said he lived on 61st Street and wanted my help to make a garden in a tree pit in the street. They wanted the same thing.

I think it’s good for everybody to do something little by little.”

Victoria Hofmo, who is a friend of the gardener and works at the building, is impressed with his dedication and hard work.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “A neighbor told him she couldn’t do her garden anymore because it was too hard for her.  She said, ‘I can’t pay you.’ They made a deal that she would make him lunch and he would help with the garden.”

“My point is to make it look cleaner and nicer,” Oh simply said.