NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The celeb-backed effort to save Elizabeth Street Garden suffered a major blow this week—the park was hit with an eviction notice from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
The one-acre green space, nestled between Spring and Prince streets in Nolita, has become a peaceful refuge for locals—including Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith—but the city plans to demolish it in two weeks to make way for affordable housing.
"It's my safe place to come to see some trees and smell some flowers," one local resident, Ying Kang, told 1010 WINS on Thursday.
The park’s impending closure has sparked pushback from the community.
"We're still trying to work with Eric Adams,” Joseph Reiver, the executive director of the Elizabeth Street Garden, told 1010 WINS. “We're still trying to work with Maria Torres-Springer, who is very, very crucial in this whole negotiation.”
The city's plan is to build 123 units of affordable housing for seniors on the property, with 40% of the units designated for people who have experienced homelessness and are transitioning out of shelters.
Despite the critical need for affordable housing, garden advocates believe that the loss of this serene, open space would be devastating for the community.
“While we have been expecting the notice to be served, we are very disappointed that Mayor Eric Adams and Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer have refused to hold off on the eviction despite ongoing negotiations and thousands of letters from the public demanding they save the garden,” the Elizabeth Street Garden non-profit said in a statement.
“Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer are well aware that they can hold off on any eviction in order to work with us on both the public and private site proposals,” the garden added. “At this point, they have chosen not to seriously consider a true win-win-win solution where there is no loss to the community.”
The garden gates are set to close on Oct. 17, but those who cherish the garden aren't giving up hope.
In August, a letter-writing campaign—with hundreds already sent by NYC elementary school students, seniors and local organizations/businesses— to push Adams into keeping the space a garden was joined by influential names like Scorsese, De Niro and Smith.
De Niro, who began initiatives in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to bring people back into lower Manhattan, agrees that the need for housing persists, but so does the need for places like the garden that are part of NYC’s “unique cultural heritage and history.”
“I support increasing the availability of affordable housing (community leaders have identified alternate locations for development), but I’m also passionate about preserving the character of our neighborhoods,” De Niro wrote.
Elizabeth Street Garden, which has nearly 200 years of history as a public, recreational space and transformed into a sculpture garden after being leased to Riever's father Allan in 1990, also holds movie nights, poetry readings and concerts in order to enrich the community within which it dwells.
For more information on Elizabeth Street Garden, visit its website.