Elderly New Yorkers have mounted a last-ditch campaign to save the decades-old Elizabeth Street Garden from being torn down to make way for affordable senior housing, The Post has learned.
Over 130 seniors — many of whom would qualify for the 123 units of affordable housing for the elderly set to be built on the city-owned Nolita lot — inked a letter to Mayor Eric Adams imploring him to rethink the project.
“It is a quiet, shaded resting place crucial to our environment, especially in the heat of summer,” the letter reads.
The letter from the gray-haired garden enthusiasts is only the latest in a decade-long battle to preserve the 20,000-square-foot sculpture garden, which could be evicted as soon as September to make way for the development project.
Locals say the green space — originally the site of a schoolhouse 120 years ago and converted into a sculpture garden in 1990 — provides them with a rare patch of grass undisturbed by recreational sports or playground noise.
Its destruction would be a devastating quality of life loss to residents “in our remaining years,” the seniors wrote.
“Where are we all going to go?” Judy Liu, 72, a retired lawyer who lives on the Bowery and was one of the signatories, told The Post this week at the garden, located on Elizabeth Street between Prince and Spring Streets.
“My dog loves this place. He sniffs every square inch of this place every day,” she said of Giuseppe, her half-Bichon, half-Shih Tzu dog.
“I truly don’t know what I’m going to do if this place is destroyed.”
The senior citizens noted that many of them “rely heavily on the garden as the only real green space within walking distance in the district.”
In fact, it’s the only public green space in Little Italy and SoHo, according to the garden’s website.
“Affordable housing must be built in our district. However, we strongly reject the false choice of losing a cherished community garden to do so,” the letter by the seniors says.
While there are other parks in lower Manhattan, they offer different purposes than Elizabeth Street Garden’s “thriving volunteer community” and those seeking quiet outdoor time, the seniors wrote.
“It’s one of the only places you can sit and not spend money and see your community,” Patricia Squillari, 72, a Lower East Side resident and retired NYC Department of Education parent coordinator, told The Post.
Elizabeth Street Garden also offers nearly 200 free programs year-round for all ages, ranging from Tai Chi, poetry and outdoor movie nights to yoga, food drives, live music and more.
“Destroying the Garden would not only diminish the lives of the thousands of seniors who already live in Lower Manhattan, but would significantly detract from the quality of life promised to the seniors who would eventually occupy the site’s proposed development,” the letter reads.
Multiple alternative sites within the district can provide more housing without the loss of the garden space, the seniors added. The local community board found another site at 388 Hudson St. that could provide five times as much housing at an empty, city-owned gravel lot, advocates say.
The affordable housing units, developed by Pennrose Properties, aren’t entirely permanent, either — those are slated to change to market rate in 30 to 60 years, according to supporters of the park.
Retail and 11,200 square feet of office space is destined for the ground floor, with Habitat for Humanity already tapped as the anchor tenant. A .15 acre space next to the building is also included in the plans, The Post previously reported.
A similar letter writing campaign opposing the plans — and which garnered worldwide supporters — has amassed nearly 400,000 signatures to date. The 2023 letter from New York electeds stood in unwavering defense of the “beloved open space,” calling the garden a “respite” for seniors and families alike.
Elizabeth Street Garden, the eponymous nonprofit responsible for the site, challenged the city’s approval of the affordable housing building in 2019, arguing officials didn’t do an adequate environmental review.
Last month, the state’s Court of Appeals ruled the NYC Housing and Preservation Department “rationally determined” the plan would not have a significant negative impact on the environment, essentially giving the development project the green light.
The nonprofit has also appealed its eviction from the city – though a judge ruled against the garden in May.
As a result, the garden could be evicted as soon as Sept. 10, and was ordered to shell out $95,500 in back rent plus interest.
Now, the only person who can reverse the eviction is New York City’s mayor.
The Elizabeth Street Garden offers a pre-written letter to Adams and the HPD demanding to reverse the eviction for garden supporters to use on its website.
“I believe in miracles,” she said. Stephen Yang for the New York Post
“We’ve welcomed the mayor and many of the people who had the power to preserve the garden and they won’t come,” Squillari, the LES resident, told The Post.
A City Hall spokesperson said the project would “deliver 100% deeply-affordable senior housing in a neighborhood with few affordable options, while also delivering over 15,000 square feet of public space including a garden and public art, nearly doubling the space currently accessible to this community.”
“The Adams administration is working tirelessly to create the housing we need to remain a diverse, inclusive city where every New Yorker can live and thrive,” the statement said.
When asked if she would ever come back to the site if it were to be demolished, Squillari refused to even acknowledge the possibility.
“I believe in miracles,” she said.
