Detroit Mower Gang keeps forgotten city parks alive

By Lauren Winfrey

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — When Detroit faced deep financial trouble in 2010, the city announced plans to shut down dozens of public parks. That’s when one man, Tom Nardone, fired up a Craigslist lawn tractor and unknowingly sparked a movement.

Fifteen years later, the Detroit Mower Gang is still at it: clearing brush, mowing fields, and reviving neglected green spaces across the city.

“Our goal is to find things no one else is doing, and to do those things,” said Nardone, who founded the group in the early days of the city’s bankruptcy.

Nardone’s first mission was a weedy park near Eight Mile Road and Interstate 75 with overgrown grass and abandoned courts.

“Kids were just waiting to play basketball or ride the swing; they just needed the lawn mowed,” he said.

The project grew when he took on a bigger challenge: the Dorais Velodrome, a long-abandoned bicycle racetrack on Detroit’s east side. He put out a call for help to bike clubs and scooter groups. To his surprise, they showed up.

Since then, the Detroit Mower Gang has become a regular sight every other Wednesday, rain or shine, clearing brush from forgotten parks, ballfields, and sidewalks.

When we caught up with them, they were mowing an old football field in Highland Park.

“I don’t know if there are many people who have been in as many nooks and crannies of this town as I have,” Nardone said. “And I’m really proud of it. It’s just a fascinating place.”

From one man and a mower to a crew of determined volunteers, the Detroit Mower Gang continues to cut through the city’s neglect—and make space for joy, community, and pride.

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