Nearing the End? Boosters of Elizabeth Street Garden Clash with Advocates of Affordable Housing

An eight year legal war may be nearing the end as the city has won the latest battle to evict the Elizabeth Street Garden by Sept. 10. The city housing department says it needs the city-owned plot as it strives to alleviate the housing crisis by installing 123 apartments for homeless and low-income senior citizens. Locals say they’d rather preserve a rare bit of treasured green space amid the bustle of SOHO and NoLita.

In the latest turn, on May 8, civil court Judge Richard Tsai ruled in the city’s favor on a 2021 eviction case to shut down the garden and set the eviction date of Sept. 10. But residents are not backing down.

The city won an appeals court decision on June 27 last year, Straus News reported, supporting the demolition of the garden to accommodate for affordable housing for senior citizens.

Judge Tsai also Tsai also ordered the local entity running the community garden has to pay off back rent of nearly $95,500 plus interest.

Adolfo Carrión Jr., commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), is ecstatic about Judge Tsai’s ruling on May 8.

“This decision is a huge win for all New Yorkers,” Carrión Jr. said in a statement. “The fight over this land highlights how difficult it can be to build affordable housing, especially in neighborhoods that offer strong economic opportunities, we are undeterred.”

But garden supporters are disappointed in the May 8 ruling. The garden’s legal team fired back by appealing the decision on May 13. And, they intend to block the Sept. 10 eviction date in part by pointing out that the green space is a garden, not a commercial lot.

“The eviction case referred to the garden as a ‘commercial lot’.” Joseph Reiver, the executive director of Elizabeth Street Garden, told Straus News, on May 29. “The city did everything they could to avoid the word ‘garden.’ It was our job to show the judge that this was a community space. And people from the community testified powerfully,” he said.

The garden’s legal team, which is pushing to have the city do a full environmental impact statement before proceeding with their plans, went before the Court of Appeals, on May 15 in Albany, NY. Thirty-five community volunteers hopped on a bus to Albany, NY to testify. That case is making its way to the appeals court, Reiver confirmed on May 29.

“That case [that went before the Court of Appeals] is substantial not just for the garden, but for public green space, and environmental use around the city and state,” Reiver said.

The garden community also kicked off a letter-writing campaign to ask New York City Mayor Eric Adams to block the eviction.

“The campaign has over 99,000 signatures as of today,” Reiver said on May 29. “We are going to keep up that letter writing campaign to put pressure on the city, and to let them know that they reject the eviction and want to save the space.”

“You can achieve more housing, without destroying the garden, by seeking more alternative sites in the area, like 388 Hudson Street in the West Village—that don’t pit housing against greenspaces,” Reiver added.

Norman Seigel, a lawyer representing the garden, predicted the Court of Appeals would make a decision for the status of the garden by July; an inquest in the eviction case is set for June 11, the Daily News reported.

“This garden is a very peaceful sanctuary for everyone that lives and works nearby,” said Alexandra Russo, who works a couple blocks away and comes to the garden every day. “It would be a serious loss for the community if they got rid of it.”

“New Yorkers take advantage of every single piece of grass that they can get their hands on,” Russo added. “With some grass, people throw their towels down and bask in the sun, and it’s kind of messed up to take that away from everyone.”

“I think if the court rules in favor of the city, that will piss a lot of people off — honestly,” Russo said. “These few New York City green spaces are what make people like it here.”

“These sorts of projects make people see development as taking away the few public spaces they have left — especially in an area like this that is so wealthy now. It makes affordable housing look like a bad thing,” Rachel Lewis, another frequent visitor of the garden, said. “There is nowhere else I can think of that I can just sit down for free.”

“The city needs to find a way to preserve public space while also meeting housing needs,” Lewis added.