Mamdani Admits Housing Defeat at Elizabeth Street Garden

Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams appears to have weeded out any plan for incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani to replace the Elizabeth Street Garden with housing.

The mayor-elect said on Thursday, “the actions that the Adams administration has taken now make it nearly impossible to follow through” with plans to build affordable housing at the oft-contested Nolita site, Crain’s reported. The mention of “nearly impossible” suggests Mamdani may still find a way to get a housing project done there.

But Adams made that significantly more challenging last week when he designated the site as parkland and transferred ownership of the lot to the Parks Department. City Hall said the conversion, announced in the waning months of Adams’ time in office, has been in the works since June.

The state Legislature would need to act for the land to be developed following the designation.

Mamdani was in good company as a critic of the designation. Pro-housing group Open New York said Wednesday that it would work with Gov. Kathy Hochul, the mayor-elect and the legislature to push for parkland alienation of the site to “undo this pathetic, lame-duck move.”

“With this disgraceful final act, the Adams administration is once again prioritizing elite comfort over affordable homes for vulnerable elderly people,” Open New York chief of staff Andrew Fine said in a statement.

As of May, Adams supported the affordable living project slated to bring 123 units of senior housing to the site, but held off evicting the garden while First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro was “reviewing” the project.

But the administration canceled plans in June, instead touting an agreement with Councilmember Chris Marte to rezone three other sites that would net 620 affordable units. Two of those sites, however, still lack attached developers, making it far from certain those projects will ever be built.

The canceled project involved a development partnership of Habitat for Humanity’s regional affiliate, Pennrose and RiseBoro Community Partnership, which needed to overcome numerous legal obstacles to construct Haven Green, only to be foiled anyway.

“I think what they did undermines what the City of Yes is all about,” Sabrina Lippman, CEO of Habitat for Humanity’s regional affiliate, told Crain’s after the project cancellation. “And it sets a really dangerous precedent for other affordable housing developers.”

— Holden Walter-Warner

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a quote to the governor. Open New York was the source of the statement.