Elizabeth Street Garden Survives - For Now: Report
NEW YORK CITY – The Elizabeth Street Garden will remain open until at least February 2025, according to a report in CBS .
The garden's eviction was paused last week following an eleventh-hour legal challenge of the city's attempt to evict it. The current court decision prevents the city from padlocking the garden and clearing the site for development.
The city has long planned to build affordable housing where the garden is currently located, as well as preserve some amount of green space. Mayor Eric Adams affirmed that plan in October.
"We have to house New Yorkers," Adams said . "The garden is a beautiful place, but there's a great beauty to be able to house New Yorkers."
Haven Green
The development set to replace the garden, Haven Green, would provide 123 homes for seniors, "including about 50 homes for seniors who are currently homeless," according to materials provided by NYC Housing Preservation and Development.
The new units appear to be set aside for those whose incomes are at most 60 percent of area median income, which in this case is $65,220 for a family size of one.
The city reportedly remains "undeterred," according to a spokesperson, "and will continue this decades-long fight for what is right and what is needed – housing for some of our most vulnerable neighbors."
'Cautiously Optimistic'
Supporters of the garden, on the other hand, contend that the units which the city plans to build are not permanently affordable, and could become market-rate housing in 30 to 60 years. They also dispute the amount of park space the city says the development would create, and argue that the garden provides a unique green space in one of Manhattan's densest neighborhoods.
Joseph Reiver, the garden's executive director, told Gothamist that supporters are "cautiously optimistic" following the success of their recent legal efforts.
"We expect the city to be ruthless — they've been ruthless up until this point, but it gives the community a lot of hope," he said. "So many people have come into the garden and written to us and just been so grateful that they have more time to spend in the garden."
More than a million letters in support of the garden have reportedly been sent to Mayor Adams.
The Elizabeth Street Garden is currently open Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to sunset, and Saturday and Sunday between 10 a.m. and sunset.
