They are not letting their garden down.
Organizers of Nolita's beloved Elizabeth Street Garden are scrambling to keep the space open in the days until eviction, but the city has yet to move forward with plans to turn it into senior housing. do not have.
Park officials, whose supporters include actor Robert De Niro, are calling on Thursday to consider two alternative sites to build 123 units of affordable senior housing. The city is closing in on Mayor Eric Adams, who is currently on the stand.
“Each of these facilities could provide over 123 units of affordable housing for seniors, as well as the potential for additional housing,” park officials said in a written statement about the proposal. Saturday x Post. “This is a true win-win with no losses.”
The garden finally received an eviction notice earlier this month after more than a decade of battle with the city and developer. A judge ultimately ruled against the zoo in May while the 2021 eviction case was on appeal.
City Councilman Christopher Marte told the Post that he has been working with the garden authority for years to identify alternative sites, such as the site for an Environmental Protection Agency water facility or a federal parking lot, but so far city officials have He said there was nothing that could convince him.
“In the past year or so, [Adams] “The government is saying, 'We're just going to build on both public lands,' even though there's no long-term commitment to build on either public land,” Marte said.
Marte said the latest plan to preserve the gardens consists of two private properties “that the city cannot build on its own,” including two existing buildings and a building that is significantly larger than currently proposed. It will feature residential and retail space.
The owners of both buildings are already “in favor” of the proposal, Joseph Reiber, the park's executive director, told the Post. The zoo is preparing for evictions this week.
“Meanwhile, they [the Adams administration] We remain open to discussing the site and evictions continue,” River said. “What they're sending us is a bit of a mixed message.”
But, he added, “I'm not packing.”
Garden advocates were in “wait mode” Tuesday as the city considered alternatives, but that won't be the answer they're looking for unless Mayor Eric Adams has a sudden change of heart. Probably.
At a Sept. 3 press conference, Adams said affordable housing will be built wherever the city can secure it.
“When we talk about housing, people often say, 'Well, why don't we move to the next block?' And I keep telling people that we need that space in this neighborhood,” the mayor said. spoke. “I have the city government do an analysis of every property we own so we can build on it.”
In the months leading up to this week's eviction, celebrities including De Niro, Patti Smith and Martin Scorsese rallied behind the garden, as well as neighborhood schoolchildren eligible for the planned affordable housing. and elderly people also gathered. The 33-year-old garden itself boasts more than 200,000 visitors a year, hundreds of free public programs and more than 20,000 square feet of Manhattan's coveted green space.
Leiber said the gardens have “come and gone.” [with the Adams administration] After more than a month of consultations, officials were open to discussing alternative sites for affordable housing development. ”
He added that the city's messages about how much seniors want the development are “misleading.” He noted that more than 123 seniors wrote letters this summer in support of the garden and pointed to the open space that Haven Green is planning. It will replace the Elizabeth Street Garden.
“They say the Haven Green development will provide 16,000 square feet of space. [publicly accessible] Open space, that’s not true,” he said. “They are using the private courtyard next door to inflate that number… They are destroying the entire garden and building on about 70% of the site.” Incorporate the use of a private courtyard next. ”
He added that if the proposal was rejected, the park would consider “all” legal options available to it.
Meanwhile, Marte said he hopes the city will consider the more than 990,000 petition signatures sent to the Adams administration, as well as the thousands of letters of protest from local residents and neighborhood schoolchildren.
“I don't see how this administration can reject this offer in good faith,” Marte said. “This is our cultural center in Little Italy, and we don’t have the green space that others take for granted.
“This community garden means the world to the voters and to the city,” he added. “We stand to lose a lot if the city moves forward with this.”
