{"id":349247,"date":"2025-11-02T01:23:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T01:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/349247\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T01:23:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T01:23:23","slug":"mamdani-sparks-opposition-in-lower-manhattan-as-he-wades-into-elizabeth-street-garden-flap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/349247\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani sparks opposition in lower Manhattan as he wades into Elizabeth Street Garden flap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has incurred the wrath of NYC gardening enthusiasts by saying he\u2019d reverse Mayor Adams\u2019 decision<\/a> to save lower Manhattan\u2019s\u00a0 Elizabeth Street Garden from being converted into affordable housing.<\/p>\n

At the end of a candidate forum hosted by the Hell Gate news site last week, Mamdani was asked a \u201clightning round\u201d question: \u201cIn your first year (in office), will you evict Elizabeth Street Garden and build affordable housing on that lot?\u201d<\/p>\n

After briefly laughing, Mamdani answered, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

A progressive like Mamdani might typically be expected to find strong support among the generally liberal crowd that backs the garden.<\/p>\n

But his position has turned some against him.<\/p>\n

The Elizabeth Street Garden is a nonprofit and doesn\u2019t endorse political candidates. But on Tuesday it posted its latest newsletter on Instagram \u2014 including a video clip of Mamdani\u2019s statement<\/a> \u2014 saying the struggle is not over.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerpetuating the false hope of housing vs. community gardens is a divisive tactic weaponized against communities across NYC. \u2026 We will continue to do everything we can to protect Elizabeth Street Garden from anyone who seeks to destroy it,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n

\"Patti<\/p>\n

Barry Williams\/New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Patti Smith performs in support of the Elizabeth Street Garden on April 1, 2025. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

As of Friday afternoon, the post had racked up a whopping 139,000 views, more than 2,400 likes and 265 comments \u2014 most of them addressed directly to @zohrankmamdani and decrying his stance. In particular, Mamdani\u2019s outburst before answering the question was deeply galling to many.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have lost my vote,\u201d declared one commenter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe laugh is a terrible dismissal,\u201d the Downtown environmental group Earth Celebrations posted. \u201cIt shows his ignorance to not see the big picture to protect healthy wellbeing of communities which requires balancing green open space and community cultivated gardens that serve a myriad of direct vital needs within the city and urban solutions to the climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Reiver, the garden\u2019s executive director, declined comment, instead referring The News to the garden\u2019s Instagram post.<\/p>\n

Magali Regis, a board member of the New York City Community Gardens Coalition, representing an estimated 20,000 Big Apple gardeners, admitted she was thrown for a loop by Mamdani\u2019s statement \u2014 to the point she now plans to \u201csit out\u201d this election.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been a no-brainer: \u2018Let\u2019s vote for this young, energetic candidate who wants to get rid of the status quo,\u2019\u201d Regis said. \u201cPeople are really unhappy and there are a lot of people calling Mamdani and saying, \u2018Keep off the garden.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the Elizabeth Street Garden holds a special significance, calling it \u201cthe poster child of community gardens<\/a> in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani has so far declined to answer NYCCGC\u2019s mayoral questionnaire, which includes a question on whether to save or develop the Little Italy garden, she said, adding that Cuomo and Sliwa have both told the group they would save the garden.<\/p>\n

Some Mamdani-supporting gardeners are saying online they aren\u2019t abandoning him, but hope they can persuade the hardline leftist to change his position if he\u2019s elected.<\/p>\n

A Mamdani spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\"ZohranZohran Mamdani campaigns in Brooklyn on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s opponents in Tuesday\u2019s general election, independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, both strongly support saving the garden.<\/p>\n

Posting on X on Tuesday, Cuomo said, \u201c@ZohranKMamdani wants to evict the Elizabeth Street Garden \u2014 that is a mistake. The Elizabeth Street Garden is one of NYC\u2019s most cherished treasures, a green oasis in the middle of a concrete neighborhood that has brought joy, education and community to residents, especially children\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI am committed to saving this precious garden and to delivering affordable housing \u2014 not by destroying what\u2019s beautiful, but by building smarter and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Sliwa told The Village Sun a year ago<\/a> that he would get arrested to save the beloved garden, if it came to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the hipsters and millennials love that spot,\u201d Sliwa said. \u201cThe old-timers, they love it. It\u2019s so tranquil. It\u2019s a mood elevator, just sitting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Barry Williams for New York Daily News<\/p>\n

The Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The Little Italy green space, between Spring and Prince Sts., has been the center of a heated struggle \u2014 marked by lawsuits \u2014 pitting the Downtown Manhattan community and garden advocates versus City Hall ever since the plot was designated for an affordable senior housing project a dozen years ago.<\/p>\n

The project appeared to be moving forward earlier this year. But in a stunning reversal, Adams in June changed city policy and scrapped the senior housing project, Haven Green<\/a>, slated for the garden.<\/p>\n

Instead, working with local Councilmember Christopher Marte, the administration identified three nearby sites where a total of more than 1,000 units of housing would be built, with 623 of those slated for permanently affordable housing \u2014 contrasting with Haven Green\u2019s much smaller amount of affordable housing, which would not be permanent.<\/p>\n

Marte did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

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