Elizabeth Street Garden Advocates Bury the Hatchet, Ramp up Opposition to Redevelopment
Advocates for the endangered Elizabeth Street Garden are rallying the troops for another round of battle to ward off certain redevelopment of the Little Italy lot.
But first, a truce between the warring factions of the garden.
The two nonprofit groups committed to saving the namesake green space – Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden and Elizabeth Street Garden – buried the proverbial hatchet this week to focus on coordinating legal efforts to stop an affordable housing project on the open-air parcel.
“As the City moves forward with plans to develop on the only public green space in Little Italy and SoHo, the community will take whatever necessary steps, including litigation, to preserve Elizabeth Street Garden in its entirety, for generations to come,” the joint statement reads.
Photo: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects
Friends has retained the legal services of Michael Gruen, President of the City Club; ESG has retained Norman Siegel of Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans, LLP.
The proposed building, as previously reported, will rise seven stories and carry 121 permanently affordable apartments for seniors. And as if to placate aggrieved locals, the plan also calls for the inclusion of 7,600 square-feet of publicly-accessible garden space. Significantly less than what’s there now. Department of Housing Preservation and Development awarded the contract to Penrose Development.
Opposition has long maintained that a site on the west side (388 Hudson Street) is better suited to affordable housing:
The City has plans to destroy the Garden for an affordable housing development, ignoring our community’s need for public green open space, tremendous local support for saving the Garden and an alternative site on a vacant city-owned lot at 388 Hudson St. — where up to five times as much senior housing and a 10,000-square-foot-park can be built without destroying treasured public green open space. ESG and Friends recognize that these two critical city objectives should not be pitted against one another, especially when we can achieve both.
Community Board 2 will host the developer later this month (June 25) in an open forum at 32 Waverly Place.
Photo: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects
Recent Stories
Randall’s Barbecue Adds Signage on Grand Street Ahead of July Opening
Randall’s Barbecue is nearing the finish line on Grand Street, bringing traif to the onetime Kosher pizzeria. Contractors last week installed the new brown awning, signaling the end of another commercial vacancy in this low-rise stretch. As previously reported, proprietor Jared Male, a pit-master veteran of both Hill Country and Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem, plans to […]
‘Brooklyn Industries’ Ditches SoHo After 14 Years
Brooklyn Industries departed Lafayette Street within the last couple weeks. The exterior flag is gone, and the store is vacant with token butcher paper taped to the windows. The Brooklyn-based mini-chain was born in the late Nineties, and eventually opened the flagship in 2001. The second store at 290 Lafayette – Manhattan’s first – followed […]
CitizenM Unveils its ‘Citizens of the Bowery’ in Lights
CitizenM officially launched its “Citizens of the Bowery” project on Tuesday night with the illumination of their photo-stocked windows. As previously reported, artist Christelle de Castro transformed sixty-two of the hotel’s windows by inserting portraits of members from the community, including residents, workers, and small business owners. By nightfall, the twenty-story, out-of-context development resembles old […]
Former Home of TeaNY to Become ‘The Good Kind’ Danish Cafe
It appears the former home of Moby’s TeaNY on Rivington Street has finally nailed down a permanent tenant. Another cafe type. The Good Kind inked a ten-year lease on June 1 to take over the sub-grade commercial space at 90 Rivington. It’s a Danish-style cafe concept run by principal Anna Poulsen, and will serve Brownsville […]
‘Noodlelove’ will Open a Fast-Casual Spot in the Old L’asso Space
More noodles for Nolita, as the northeast corner of Kenmare and Mott Streets gets reactivated. Something called Noodlelove recently signed a lease for 192 Mott Street, and will soon impart a fast-casual restaurant built around “Asian noodle dishes with smartly sourced ingredients.” Opening date is likely toward the end of the summer or early fall. […]
