Elizabeth Street Garden is yet again the center of debate—this time between current New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his successor, Zohran Mamdani. Adams, who once sought to level the garden in favor of a housing development, abandoned the project in June.
Prior to that change, the garden’s nonprofit tenant was scheduled to be evicted in March to accommodate housing development under Adams. In response, there was record turnout to save the garden by the nonprofit, community members, and celebrities like Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Patti Smith, who rallied on its behalf.
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The one-acre art garden in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood is overseen by executive director Joseph Reiver, who took over the garden’s management in 1991 from his father, an antiques dealer who leased the space from the city when it was an abandoned lot and converted it into an outdoor extension of his business Elizabeth Street Gallery.
Until now, it seemed the garden had been saved from destruction. The Mayor-elect, however, vowed during his campaign to resurrect affordable housing plans for the lot.
A November 3 letter to the parks commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa from the commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services Louis Molina saw the plot “unequivocally and permanently” designated “to public use as parkland,” Gothamist reported.
If Mamdani wants to create housing on the land, he will now need the approval of the New York state legislature in light of this new designation.
“It is no surprise that Mayor Adams is using his final weeks and months to cement a legacy of dysfunction and inconsistency,” Mamdani said during a stop at a child-care center in Brooklyn, according to the New York Times. “And the actions that the Adams administration has taken now make it nearly impossible to follow through with that” on the garden site.
He added, “My focus will be on working with the Legislature to fulfill the affordability agenda that I’ve been working on.”
During his campaign, Mamdani said that affordable housing, especially for older people, was a priority. His plans for the project at Elizabeth Street Garden would have fulfilled that promise with affordable housing for older people and roughly 16,000-square-feet of green space.
“The Elizabeth Street Garden, like the High Line in Manhattan and the Home for Retired Playground Animals in the Bronx, will be a distinct park in the city’s portfolio, a much-needed open space serving area residents, and a destination for international travelers,” Charles A. Birnbaum, president and CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), said in a statement to Hyperallergic.
TCLF, an advocacy center in Washington, D.C., brought attention to the site in 2018, six years after the city first targeted the park for potential demolition.