Mamdani admin scraps plan to build affordable housing on site of Elizabeth Street Garden

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A battle that has been raging for more than a decade over a community garden in Manhattan appears to be coming to an end.

The Mamdani administration will no longer pursue a plan to build affordable housing on the site of the Elizabeth Street Garden, reversing statements the mayor made during the campaign to evict the nonprofit tenant during his first year in office.

The enchanted park was born 35 years ago by Allan Reiver, a gallery owner who filled the once empty 1-acre lot with outdoor sculptures and paintings, then opened the oasis to the public.

For decades it provided much-needed green space in NoLita. Then politicians planned to tear down the flower beds for affordable housing.

Plans for 123 units of affordable housing for older New Yorkers on the site date back to 2012.

Most recently, Mayor Adams supported the development, before announcing an agreement to preserve the land in June 2025.

Allan Reiver's son Joseph now runs the Elizabeth Street nonprofit.

"People have met here. People have gotten married here, people have brought their children here//it really represents what we celebrate about New York and art and community and nature and to see that shared with thousands of people on a regular basis is beyond words," Joseph Reiver, the director of the Elizabeth Street Garden, said.

Mayor Mamdani campaigned on getting rid of the park, but on Tuesday, indicated all parties have reached an agreement.

The garden gets to stay and affordable housing will be built, but at another location.

The city will move forward with building 180 affordable homes on a city-owned lot at 22 Suffolk Street.

"We need places like this where people can congregate and, you know, to pit that against the need for affordable housing is a false choice," Reiver said.

Both sides will be in court on Thursday to finalize the offer.

"As part of our commitment to building the affordable housing New Yorkers urgently need, we are moving forward to deliver over 180 affordable homes at 22 Suffolk Street. At the same time, we are continuing to work toward a resolution of the lawsuit initiated under the previous administration concerning the Elizabeth Street Garden site. We will keep fighting to create more affordable homes, stronger neighborhoods, and public spaces that make New York the greatest city on earth," a spokesperson for the mayor's office said.

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