Elizabeth Street Garden, a community garden site that has been used as an outdoor recreation and education space in downtown Manhattan since the early 1800s, could soon be replaced by an affordable housing complex.
New York City was cleared Tuesday by a state appeals court for construction of a 123-unit building for low-income senior citizens on the community garden. The decision ends a long legal fight with the city and Elizabeth Street Garden, a non-profit that wanted to keep the half-acre property as a small park and event space.
New York’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development appropriately “identified the relevant areas of environmental concern, took a hard look at them, and made a reasoned elaboration of the basis for its determination,” the appeals court wrote in its ruling.
Joseph Reiver, executive director of Elizabeth Street Garden, said the organization will challenge the ruling. “We’re very disappointed,” he said in an email. “The fight isn’t over and we continue to seek a solution that achieves more of the needed housing while preserving Elizabeth Street Garden for the community. This solution is possible without any destruction.”
The community sculpture garden was founded in 1990 by local antiques dealer Allan Reiver, Joseph Reiver’s father, on leased city land north of Little Italy in a neighborhood known as Nolita, according to the group’s website. In addition to serving as an urban green oasis, it was used for public events such as poetry readings and concerts.
The city first proposed ending its month-to-month lease in 2012, when City Council member Margaret Chin targeted the site as part of a larger housing development plan. Allan Reiver and other garden supporters sued in 2019, claiming the project violated local zoning ordinances and ignored environmental concerns. The garden got an eviction notice in 2021.
In November, a State Supreme Court judge ordered the city to conduct a full environmental review before approval could be granted for the housing complex, called Haven Green.
While the city’s review found that the neighborhood was “underserved” with open spaces, its close proximity to Washington Square Park would help balance the loss of the garden, according to court filings. The city also concluded the additional population of seniors from the new housing wouldn’t overburden existing open spaces.
“This decision is a huge win for all New Yorkers,” Adolfo Carrión Jr., the HPD Commissioner, said in a statement. “We look forward to delivering these 123 new, affordable, LGBTQ+ friendly homes for older New Yorkers, and we will continue advancing projects in every corner of the city to tackle the severe housing shortage driving this affordable housing crisis.”
(Updates with comment from city housing department.)