July 3, 2025 – Norris Square Neighborhood Project (NSNP) is a Philadelphia treasure. Since the 1970s, NSNP has worked to restore and preserve urban landscapes and build youth leadership through community events and outreach, arts, cultural programs, and the creation of green space and urban gardens. The organization stewards six gardens in the Norris Square neighborhood, each of which represents a unique aspect of Puerto Rican history.

Las Parcelas, the largest of these gardens, provides the community with fresh produce and is an important gathering space for the community, hosting events and cultural workshops since at least September 1993. Last week, NSNP filed an action to quiet title in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for one of the parcels that make up Las Parcelas. Represented by the Law Center and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, NSNP seeks to gain ownership of the land  that it has been stewarding for more than three decades through adverse possession. Under Pennsylvania law, an individual or organization like NSNP can gain title to abandoned property if they can demonstrate adverse, visible, continuous  possession and use for a specified statutory period.

“Community gardens like Las Parcelas are vital green spaces that provide a place for neighbors to come together to grow fresh food, to seek shade, and to gather and play. But we are at risk of losing these neighborhood anchors when they are on land that is not secure,” said Mimi McKenzie, Law Center Legal Director. “With this lawsuit, we hope to preserve Las Parcelas for generations to come.”