New Yorkers may have just 12 days left to visit the Elizabeth Street Garden in Lower Manhattan.
City officials — who are pushing ahead with plans to build affordable housing for seniors on the site — issued the garden a two-week eviction notice earlier this week.
The notice could augur the end of a battle over the green space that has been brewing for more than a decade.
The garden has been operating as a semi-public site on a month-to-month lease with the city for years, and its supporters say there are better spots nearby where affordable housing can be built. Their efforts have included a massive campaign featuring thousands of letters of support from the community and endorsements from big-name celebrities like Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Patti Smith.
The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development disagrees, and sees the planned development as a step toward addressing the city’s affordability crisis. The planned development includes 123 apartments, some of which will go to homeless New Yorkers.
This week’s eviction notice raises the likelihood that the city will prevail.
Ilana Maier, a spokesperson for the housing department, said in a statement that the latest developments were “a step forward for both affordable housing and community green space.”
“We’re reaffirming our commitment to solving the homelessness and affordable housing crises even when it’s politically challenging,” she added.
The nonprofit managing the site stopped paying rent as the dispute heated up, according to the agency, and currently owes approximately $100,000.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the site last month but didn’t reverse its fate. One of Adams’ signature policies is his “City of Yes” housing plan, which seeks to build as many as 109,000 new residences across the five boroughs over 15 years.
The garden has the support of a number of local politicians, including City Councilmember Chris Marte, who in 2023 signed a letter calling on the mayor to save…
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