Is Elizabeth Street Garden becoming a real park?

"Only in New York could a single acre of hedges, urns and neoclassical whimsy fuel a decade of political battles. Elizabeth Street Garden, Nolita's most Instagram-friendly patch of greenery and the subject of one of the city's most emotionally charged land-use fights, is back in the news. This time question isn't whether it will be demolished, but whether it will become a legitimate New York City park."

"The plot twist arrived earlier this month, when a member of mayor Eric Adams' administration wrote in a letter that the city unequivocally and permanently dedicates this property to public use as parkland, Gothamist reported. The single phrase, tucked inside a letter to parks commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, dramatically raised the stakes: building anything on the site would now require approval from the state legislature, meaning future mayors wouldn't touch the property without Albany's blessing."

"Earlier this year, Adams abandoned his support for Haven Green, a 123-unit affordable housing development for seniors that would've replaced the garden, and instead struck a deal with Councilmember Christopher Marte to rezone three other sites in Lower Manhattan. Adams' administration claims that those rezonings could yield more than 600 affordable homes, five times the number planned for Elizabeth Street. Housing groups blasted the reversal, while open-space advocates considered it a long-overdue return to sanity."

Elizabeth Street Garden occupies a single acre in Nolita with hedges, urns, and neoclassical features and has been central to a long land-use fight. A city administration letter declared the property unequivocally and permanently dedicated to public parkland, which means any construction would require state legislative approval. Earlier, the mayor withdrew support for Haven Green, a 123-unit senior affordable housing project that would have replaced the garden, and instead pursued rezonings elsewhere projected to yield over 600 affordable homes. The incoming mayor campaigned to revive the original housing plan and to evict the garden's nonprofit tenant, a promise now complicated by the new parkland designation.

Read at www.timeout.com