Manhattan Garden On The Ropes, To Be Replaced By Affordable Housing

NEW YORK CITY – The Elizabeth Street Garden, a bucolic, sculpture-filled surprise in the middle of Nolita, one of Manhattan’s most expensive and most urban-feeling neighborhoods, is set to become a mix of affordable housing and public space after a decade-long battle.

The garden could be evicted from the city-owned lot in less than a month – as soon as Sept. 10 – after Elizabeth Street lost what may prove to be a final legal battle, bringing a new affordable housing project one big step closer to construction.

Not Over Yet

“We’re working on the next legal steps,” Joseph Reiver, Executive Director of the Elizabeth Street Garden, told Patch.

While Reiver declined to specify what those steps might be, at present his organization is also focused on a letter writing campaign featuring elementary school students, seniors, and other concerned New Yorkers.

More than 420,000 letters in support of the garden have been mailed to Mayor Eric Adams, Reiver said.

But these letters have not succeeded in shifting his position on the matter, a spokesperson confirmed. In this case, the mayor supports affordable housing.

Affordability Crisis

The city is abysmally and historically unaffordable, with the vacancy rate of apartments that rent below $1,650 – not exactly inexpensive – sitting at less than 1%, according to recent data from Comptroller Brad Lander’s office.

“We’re in a housing crisis,” said Ahmed Tigani, NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) First Deputy Commissioner.

“With a 1.4% vacancy rate, we have to not only consider this site, we have to be building on other sites, in addition to Haven Green, which has always been planned to be an affordable housing site. The other sites that [Elizabeth Street Garden] has brought to our attention, we’re moving on them, too” Tigani said, referring in part to 388 Hudson Street.

Another city-owned space, 388 Hudson was floated as an alternative to developing Elizabeth Street by supporters of the garden.

The city is taking a both/and approach.

“We have to look at every public site, and we have to work with the private sector to deliver housing,” Tigani said. “We just don’t have enough housing right now.”

Haven Green

The development set to replace the garden, Haven Green, will provide 123 affordable homes for seniors, “including about 50 homes for seniors who are currently homeless,” according to materials provided by HPD.

The new units appear to be set aside for those whose incomes are at most 60% of area median income, which in this case is $65,220 for a family size of one.

Supporters of the garden argue that the units are not permanently affordable, and could become market-rate housing in 30 to 60 years.

HPD could not definitively confirm the accuracy or inaccuracy of this assessment. According to a spokesperson, the building will be “permanently rent stabilized.”

But the fight over the garden isn’t only about affordable housing: it’s about how the city chooses to use what is arguably its scarcest resource – space – in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Manhattan.

How Much Open Space Will Survive?

The garden’s current footprint is about 20,000 square feet. The city says Haven Green will feature “over 15,000 square feet of open public space…[that] will include a vegetable garden, public art, and other community driven amenities.”

Reiver disagrees.

“That whole number is ridiculous,” he said. “Nobody has questioned them or challenged them on that.”

Plans show that the new development will include 6,600 square feet of “outdoor garden area,” as well as 2,000 square feet of “indoor garden area (breezeway).”

The rest of the total derives from the use of an adjacent property’s existing courtyard – the Lira Apartments at 21 Spring Street – and some of that space will remain reserved for the exclusive use of Lira’s residents.

For Reiver, losing Elizabeth Street Garden is losing more than just open space.

“We're not just trying to save generic open space, we’re trying to save a garden which is a work of art in its own right,” Reiver said.

“The city will never build something like this again, nor will any developer. We have a proposal that could achieve more affordable housing than what they're proposing, using multiple identified alternative sites. Our whole effort is to dispel the false choice of housing versus green space, and get a solution that achieves both without any loss.”

Not A Choice

The city agrees that the choice isn’t between housing and green space.

“That’s completely accurate, it’s a false choice between housing and green space,” Tigani said. “We did not have to sacrifice open space for a community that deserves open space, and we’re creating housing for a city that deserves affordable housing, especially for our seniors.

Regarding public space, the city is quick to point out that the Elizabeth Street Garden wasn’t always open to the public. The space which Haven Green will create, it says, will be open “24/7.”

For those who may be new to the dispute – and the garden – Reiver recommends a visit.

“Come and visit the garden and see all that it is,” he said.

At least until Sept. 10.

Do you have thoughts about the Elizabeth Street Garden or the Haven Green project? Is there a dispute over space in your neighborhood that you would like Patch to look into? Email [email protected].