The Elizabeth Street Garden got a last-minute legal win against the city to temporarily block its eviction – delaying a plan to pave it over with affordable housing, activists said Monday.
An appelate court issued a temporary stay on the eviction as garden organizers appeal a May eviction decision and continue the fight to keep the 20,000-square foot sculpture garden open in the Nolita neighborhood.
The garden was served a move-out notice earlier this month as Mayor Eric Adams’ administration plans to build 123 units of affordable housing for seniors at the site. Organizers were told to vacate the garden by Thurday.
“This is our cultural center in Little Italy and we don’t have the green space that others take for granted,” City Council Member Christopher Marte previously told The Post. “This community garden means the world to the constituents and to the city … we will be losing a lot if the city moves through with this.”
The temporary reprieve will end Oct. 30, the garden’s executive director Joseph Reiver said.
“The stay remains in effect — we are pleased,” garden attorney Norman Siegel said, a day after The Post editorial board called on the mayor to keep the space open.
While garden supporters – including Robert de Niro, Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith – call the sculpture garden a critical respite from bustling city life, the mayor doubled down on his argument to house New Yorkers wherever he can during a Tuesday news conference.
“We have to house New Yorkers,” the mayor said. “The garden is a beautiful place, but there’s a great beauty to be able to house New Yorkers.
“We are not surprised or deterred — we’re working to immediately resolve this last minute attempt to prevent the city from building the affordable housing and public green space this neighborhood deserves,” a City Hall spokesperson told The Post. “This is nothing new — the well-heeled Elizabeth Street Garden has dug in its heels for nearly a decade to prevent the city from building affordable housing for low-income and formerly homeless seniors. “
Marte told The Post the city has been presented with two alternative sites – with eager owners and more space for affordable housing – but advocates still remain in “waiting mode” as the city weighs in.
“I don’t see how this administration can reject this offer in good faith,” Marte said.
“While they [the Adams administration] remain open to discussing the sites, they’ve also continued with the eviction,” Reiver told The Post on Monday. “It’s a bit of a mixed message they’re sending us.”
Still, Reiver said garden operators intend to explore “every” legal option possible should the proposal fall through – such as adding the option of sending emails in support of the garden to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“The Mayor and Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer don’t seem to care that thousands of people have written to save the garden (994,321 letters have been sent at this point),” the garden wrote in a Tuesday Instagram post. “So we’re adding @govkathyhochul @nygov to the letter campaign. Which means everyone can send another letter!”
The garden is still hashing out its alternative site plans with Marte, the post added, though a City Hall spokesperson told The Post the proposal is hardly being considered.
““The so-called ‘private proposals’ identified by the garden are not serious,” the spokesperson said. “Any claims that Elizabeth Street Garden has identified serious options are incorrect. Each would require a new, full public process, bringing years of delay.
“As the Garden knows, even after public review concludes, there is always a danger that meritless litigation will further delay a project’s ability to get started and house New Yorkers,” the spokesperson added. “Regardless, we will continue to fight for the needs of seniors living in shelter.”