The Elizabeth St. Garden between Prince and Spring Streets. Long used exclusively by the adjacent Elizabeth Street Gallery who rents it from the city, the public finally began having access to it over the Summer. A campaign has been launched to save it from development. The lot development plan was tacked onto discussions as part of the the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development as part of the $1.1 billion Seward Park Urban Renewal project at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, a mixed-use complex to include 1,000 housing units with 500 for low- and middle-income tenants. (Photo: Helayne Seidman)
The issue is on the agenda at Community Board's 2 meeting on November 4th at 6:30 p.m. at P.S. 130 Hernando De Soto School Auditorium 143 Baxter Street (Between Hester & Grand)
Manhattan
Little Italy residents are fighting to save a rare oasis of grass, flowers, trees, ornate benches and statues slated to be bulldozed for housing, according to the New York Post.
The Elizabeth Street Garden, a 20,000-square-foot city-owned lot, was tapped for affordable housing in a push by Councilwoman Margaret Chin. But residents say the deal went “under the radar” and caught them by surprise. Community Board 2 has called its first hearing on the project for Monday and residents have launched a “Save the Garden” petition.
“We need affordable housing, but this is already a beautiful garden. Let’s make it a park,” said Jeannine Kiely, a resident and mother of two. Little Italy and Soho have .07 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents — one of the lowest ratios citywide, she added.
Neighbors learned only last summer that the garden — leased for $4,000 a month to the adjacent Elizabeth Street Gallery — is city land and asked gallery owner Allan Reiver to open it to the public. A first-ever Harvest Fest last month drew 1,500 for pumpkin painting, the planting of 2,000 daffodils, food donated by local eateries and a live band. Since summer, the Elizabeth Street Garden has been a popular space. Workers use the spot to eat lunch, parents take kids to do homework, and other residents relax or tend to the planting beds.
“It was really a coming together of all types of people, and showed us what this garden could be for the community,” said Emily Hellstrom, a mom of three.
But city officials say Reiver is violating his month-to-month lease, which specifies the lot can be used for “storage” only.
The lot development plan was tacked onto discussions for the $1.1 billion Seward Park Urban Renewal project at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, a mixed-use complex to include 1,000 housing units with 500 for low- and middle-income tenants.
The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development will create a separate plan for the Elizabeth Garden lot and could not say what mix of affordable and market-rate units it may bring, a spokesman said.
Participants attend the Elizabeth Street Garden Harvest Festival on October 20th.
Participants attend the Elizabeth Street Garden Harvest Festival on October 20th.
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New York Post - November 3, 2013 - By Susan Edelman
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