Beloved Elizabeth Street Garden faces eviction
The Elizabeth Street Garden in Little Italy, a cherished green space and artistic haven for locals, may soon be gone for good. An eviction notice is now active as the city pushes forward with a controversial plan to build affordable housing for low-income and formerly homeless seniors on the site. FOX 5’s Arthur Chi’en has the story.
NEW YORK CITY – The Elizabeth Street Garden, a beloved green space in Little Italy, will be saved after a long battle to preserve it.
What they’re saying:
In a statement, Joseph Reiver, executive director of Elizabeth Street Garden and son of the garden’s founder, said, in part: “I’ve spent the better part of my adult life knowing the Garden through times of uncertainty. In truth, after all these years I don’t quite know what it’s like to be here without the weight of a looming threat. But here I am, writing this under the Gazebo on the evening of the Summer Solstice, knowing that Elizabeth Street Garden is saved.”
According to the statement, thanks to “Councilmember Marte’s dedication and the support from Mayor Adams, we now have a resolution that delivers even more housing while preserving the Garden.”
“Through zoning actions at a privately owned site just two blocks away on the Bowery, a vacant city-owned property on Suffolk Street, and more affordable housing at 100 Gold Street, at least 623 new affordable units will be created in our district in addition to hundreds of more homes,” Reiver said. “With political will and community alignment, the review process for these developments could be significantly expedited. This is a rare opportunity for us to show how all of the involved parties can work together.”
The other side:
Meanwhile, New York City Council Adrienne Adams released a statement, saying, in part: “Amidst a severe housing and affordability crisis, Mayor Adams, First Deputy Mayor Mastro, and their administration have betrayed New Yorkers who are in desperate need of affordable homes. Their political interference to stop the building of Haven Green’s 123 units of deeply affordable housing for older adults, with 14,000 square feet of public space, is yet another example of this mayoral administration’s capitulation to special interests.”
The backstory:
FOX 5 NY’s Arthur Chi’en reported on the story back in March, when the area faced an active eviction after the city planned to use the land to construct an affordable housing complex for low-income and formerly homeless seniors.
For over a decade, the garden had operated on city-owned land under a lease agreement.
Little Italy