HPD Moves Forward with ‘Haven Green’ Development Atop Elizabeth Street Garden
JR’s mural to save the Elizabeth Street Garden
With the edict to remove statues from the park, the proverbial bulldozers are revving up the engines after the city decides to move forward with the redevelopment of the Elizabeth Street Garden.
This week, the Department of City Planning certified plans to proceed with the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) for the Haven Green “affordable” housing complex in the center of Little Italy. It apparently sailed through without much resistance.
As part of this protocol, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development released the 154-page Environmental Assessment Statement (EAS). Callista Nazair, Director of Environmental Planning at the agency, stated a so-called “Negative Declaration,” meaning that HPD believes this planned development atop the Elizabeth Street Garden (referred to as a “Commercial Sculpture Garden” not as a community-led garden) will have “no significant effect on the quality of the environment” and that an Environmental Impact Statement is not needed.
Photo: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects
In other words, no additional environmental analysis/investigation is necessary regarding how Haven Green potentially impacts its surroundings. No mention about impacts on noise, air quality, or that the remaining minuscule open space will be covered in shadows.
(Conversely, a Positive Declaration would have automatically triggered an EIS which would take at least seven months to complete.)
Community Board 2 will hold a pair of yet-to-be-scheduled public hearings on the matter in December and January.
As previously reported, Haven Green is a seven-story affordable housing project for seniors co-developed by Pennrose Properties and Habitat NYC. Plans call for 123 apartments measuring roughly 400 square-feet each. There is also luxury ground floor retail, and 11,200 square-feet of below-market-rate office space reserved for Habitat NYC. However, regarding the latter, the EAS notes this space as a “Community Facility,” yet later contradicts the description as “commercial office space” with “39 employees.”
Furthermore, according to the aforementioned EAS, the proposed development would be constructed in a single phase and is expected to be completed and operational by 2021. Nevertheless, the Friends of the Elizabeth Street Garden advocacy group is lawyered up and prepared to fight the city. They’ve retained the legal services of land-use attorney Michael Gruen, while Elizabeth Street Garden, the garden’s managing organization since last year has Norman Siegel of Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans, LLP. Both groups are coordinating efforts to save the garden.
And as a post-script, tax photos from the 1940s show the city-owned Elizabeth Street Garden site in its natural state, as a playground, a place to play basketball and stick ball…
Photo: Municipal Archives
Recent Stories
Police Chase, Shoot at Man Armed with 2 Knives on the Bowery
Police this morning shot at an alleged robbery suspect who resisted arrest and threatened officers with two knives. It began at 8:00am when police received the first call about an emotionally disturbed man who threatened a woman with a glass bottle outside 80 East Third Street, and attempted to steal money. He then fled south […]
The ‘Basic Necessities’ of Broome Street
Six months ago, Basic Necessities became part of Broome Street. Conceived by artist Michelle Repiso, the multimedia project tackles “three individuals and the mechanisms they used to sustain their humanity while incarcerated.” Now, with an Artist Corps Grant, Repiso is taking it one step further with community engagement. Tomorrow, the artist will be crowdsourcing participants’ […]
St. Marks Church in-the-Bowery Awarded Sacred Sites Grant of $35,000
One of the oldest houses of worship in the city will receive some much needed financial aid for their ongoing restoration endeavours. The New York Landmarks Conservancy has awarded St. Marks Church in-the-Bowery $35,000 through their Sacred Sites grant, a designation that administers monies to historic religious properties throughout the state. The church on East […]
Borough President Implores Parks Commissioner to Address Community Concerns in Sara D. Roosevelt Park
Two stabbings within a twelve-hour period last weekend highlighted the decrepit, yet dangerous state of Sara D. Roosevelt Park. The violence apparently pushed Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to exert pressure on the Parks Department to address certain core issues. In a letter to Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff this week, Brewer identified two key concerns – […]
Loved Ones Crowdfunding for Grubhub Deliveryman Stabbed to Death on the LES
Loved ones have taken to online crowdfunding platform GoFundMe to help raise money for the Grubhub deliveryman stabbed to death in Sara D. Roosevelt Park last weekend. As reported, the incident transpired early Saturday morning near the Hester Playground in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Surveillance footage shows that the attacker sat on the bench next […]
