Lower Manhattan’s Charming Elizabeth Street Garden Faces Demolition
Afternoons strolling through Elizabeth Street Garden are endangered as demolition plans threaten the only beautiful public green space found between Little Italy and SoHo. Its location has a nearly 200-year history as a public recreational space, and the sculpture garden has been one of the city’s best hidden gems ever since it first opened.
According to a collaborative Instagram post with Elizabeth Street Garden and New York Nico, the city plans to tear down Elizabeth Street Garden to make room for 123 units of senior affordable housing, luxury retail, and office space. The demolition is set to occur on September 10 unless the community comes together — and it is certainly trying.
The Elizabeth Street Garden website states that it has established a legal case with Norman Siegel, the former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, to stop developers from carrying out their plans. Even celebrities are getting involved, including natives Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorsese, and Patti Smith, all of whom have written to Mayor Eric Adams urging him to save the space.
“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, according to The New York Times.
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Elizabeth Street Garden shares more details online about the city’s proposal following a demolition, fighting for their chance to remain as a beloved community green space. “The City does not need to pit affordable housing and public green space against one another. We can achieve both!” writes its website. Instead of destroying the garden space for affordable housing, Community Board 2 has suggested alternative sites that offer 10x more affordable Senior units.
The NYC Housing Preservation & Development comes at the issue from a different point of view and revealed that the land was city-owned from the beginning, and the proposed alternatives that were suggested were reviewed, but not adequate. The organization also noted that it plans to preserve the Elizabeth Street Garden when rebuilding.
“The new development will include over 14,000 square feet of open space, nearly matching the size of the Elizabeth Street Garden, and it will be accessible nearly 24/7 to ALL New Yorkers,” a statement read. “Through community visioning events, we are inviting everyone in the neighborhood to share their input on how this space will be shaped.”
However, the garden is still urging residents to write to the Mayor and his administration or help donate to the cause. You can learn more here.
See also: Our guide to the New York Botanical Garden
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