City Planning Approves Senior Housing At Elizabeth St. Garden

LITTLE ITALY, NY — The City Planning Commission approved the affordable senior housing project at the Elizabeth Street Garden Wednesday, sending the project onward to a vote in City Council.

The go-ahead for the contentious low-income senior housing project came after dozens testified for and against the Haven Green project, which would build 123 units of affordable LGBTQ-friendly senior housing but slash the beloved Elizabeth Street Garden to about one-third of its current size.

"In a neighborhood that has so few undeveloped parcels, every piece of land has the potential to meet multiple, and at times, competing neighborhood needs," City Planning Chair Marisa Lago said in a 'yes' vote on Wednesday. "In a neighborhood with an area median income as high as this one, the search for land on which to construct affordable housing is especially challenging."

Lago urged the Haven Green project leads to extend the hours of the future green space beyond 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., as previously proposed.

"Even on an early spring day like today, it's evidence that those hours are far too short and we expect to see longer hours," Lago said.

Garden-supporters have long-opposed the project and advocated for saving the 20,000-square-foot garden in its entirety and building on a separate nearby lot instead — resulting in lawsuits and neighbors often feeling pitted against one another. But affordable housing advocates have contended the neighborhood needs additional low-income housing, plus, about 6,700 square feet of green space would remain on the site.

Twelve commissioners voted yes on Haven Green for the affordable housing project, with Commissioner Orlando Marin recusing himself.

Commissioner Michelle de la Uz said, "It's really important that the city take opportunities such as this to affirmatively further fair housing in communities where we've seen dramatic shifts racially and socio-economically."

The Haven Green development team was grateful for the approval vote.

"Since the project’s conception, we have been focused on ensuring an inclusive process that supports the city’s growing need of deeply affordable, LGBTQ-friendly, senior housing while also providing the public with high-quality open and accessible green space for generations to come," the team said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to move Haven Green forward and we thank all the members of the community that continue to support the project along the way”

City Planning's approval now sends the project to a vote in City Council, where Councilwoman Margaret Chin, who supports the project, holds a pivotal vote on Haven Green, which is being led by Habitat for Humanity New York City, Pennrose Properties, RiseBoro Community Partnership and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

In Chin's statement at the City Planning public hearing last month, she said, "Since taking office, and for decades before that as a community activist, I have fought for affordable housing for people who desperately need it."

"Opponents of this project hold a passionate point of view regarding the future of this site. It pains me to disagree with them, especially when I know that we all want what is best for our community," she said.