Judge Stays City Eviction Order of Elizabeth Street Garden

A New York court has temporarily paused the eviction of the Elizabeth Street Garden, the nonprofit that runs the artistic green space in Little Italy, shared in a newsletter on October 16.

“The Appellate Term of the NYS Supreme Court has temporarily stayed the eviction pending the determination of our motion to stay the eviction until a determination of our appeal of the Decision issued in Landlord and Tenant Court,” Garden executives wrote in their email, adding that their “motion is returnable on October 30, 2024.”

The city had indicated it will fight the stay and move to proceed with its affordable housing project to build 123 units for low income seniors, with a smaller public park in place of the one acre garden.

The Elizabeth Street Garden is located in lower Manhattan on Elizabeth Street between Prince Street and Spring Street on the northern edge of Little Italy. For now. the garden and its many fans live to fight another day, although Mayor Eric Adams as recently as Oct. 15 said he had no plans to change the city’s effort to evict the garden and build 123 units of affordable housing for seniors on the one-acre plot.

The city had served the park with an eviction notice on Oct. 2 that had a two week window until Oct. 17, at which time the city could padlock the park as a first step in its effort to clear the lot in preparation for the building and a new public park space. But the new park would have cleared the statues, benches and much of the greenery in the beloved park.

The court battle between the city and garden preservationists started over a decade ago. The city, which owned the one-acre lot, celebrated, what seemed to be a final win, after a decision in June by New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled that the city could proceed with the demolition of the garden.

But the garden community said it has stopped the bulldozers for the moment with the latest stay order. “Yesterday we notified Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), the Corporation Council for the City of New York, and the City Marshal of this court order.” The nonprofit wrote. “The City is already going into the Appellate Division this afternoon to overturn the order. We will update everyone on any decision from the court.”

According to the nonprofit that runs the garden, over one million letters (1,017,597 as of Oct. 16) have been sent to the mayor begging him to save the garden. They are now asking supporters to write more letters, and to send them to governor Kathy Hochul.

“The Mayor and [First] Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer don’t seem to care that thousands of people have written to save the garden,” garden executives wrote in their email newsletter and on their social media accounts, “So we’re adding the Governor to the letter campaign. Which means everyone can send another letter!”

When Straus News asked Mayor Adams on Tuesday if the city still plans to “kick out” the garden, the mayor dodged the controversy with catchy phrasing.

“No, no one is going to be kicked out.” Mayor Adams answered. “In fact, people are going to be kicked in.”

The city sold the estimated $40 million worth lot to three developers– Pennrose and the nonprofit organizations, RiseBoro Community Partnership and Habitat for Humanity–for $1 after they pledged to build an apartment complex offering 123 units of affordable housing to low-income seniors, as well as luxury retail stores and a public park. One of the developers, Habitat for Humanity is also expected to get office space for its regional HQ in the complex.

As Straus News reported, councilmember Christopher Marte, who represents the first district, which includes Little Italy, wrote in an email to his constituents on October 4 that “the City isn’t actually interested in building affordable housing.”

Marte claimed he put a solution “on the table” that would save the garden and build affordable housing, by moving the affordable housing funds to private sites, which are currently slated for 100 percent luxury apartment developments.

The mayor did not respond, when asked if he had considered Marte’s proposal, instead he insisted the project remains a cog in his plan to combat the city’s ongoing housing crisis.

“I cannot get it any clearer.” The mayor said. “And we need to wrap our heads around 1.4 percent vacancy rate. Our seniors, when I do my senior town halls at the senior adult centers, I hear over and over their fear of not being able to afford to live in the city. We have to house New Yorkers. And the garden is a beautiful place, but there’s a greater beauty to be able to house New Yorkers.”

Hyperallergic cited a July report by the nonprofit LiveOnNY, writing that “the number of seniors on the waitlist for citywide affordable housing has grown to over 300,000 people, a 50 percent increase since 2016.”

Elizabeth Street Garden executive director, Joseph Reiver, who is working closely with Marte to find alternative sites, has repeatedly said that the city is presenting a “false choice,” that the garden community is not against building affordable housing, it just wants to preserve the garden.

Reiver told Hyperallergic that “much of the media coverage” makes it seem like “we’re against housing.” Reiver said, “I’ve been working day in and day out to get affordable housing in this neighborhood, just not at the expense of this [garden].”

His father, Allen Reiver, an antique dealer and artist, turned the neglected and garbage-filled lot that once housed a public school that the city demolished into a green oasis in the 1990s. Today the garden offers over 200 free programs a year, including poetry readings, movie screenings and live music. When Straus News visited the garden in September, we counted more than 30 people sitting on benches or at tables, reading books.

The mayor did not comment directly on Marte’s proposal. Ilana Maier, the communications director for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), told Gothamist that the garden’s executives “refused to tell us what sites they’re actually talking about, which makes it impossible for us to actually respond.”

In fact, the garden lists the alternative locations on their website in a PDF that can be downloaded under “Win Win Proposal.”

“We will continue to work with Councilmember Marte on the private site proposal.” Wednesday’s newsletter continued. “The owners of two nearby sites are willing and ready to work on including affordable units in new developments as an alternative to destroying the garden. This solution provides more housing for those in need and preserves the garden with no loss to the community.”