Elizabeth Street Garden in Little Italy served with eviction notice

LITTLE ITALY, Manhattan (PIX11) – A neighborhood garden will officially have to close its gates in Manhattan.

The Elizabeth Street Garden in Little Italy has been served an eviction notice by the City, forcing them to close in the next 14 days. The move comes after a 12-year legal battle to make way for what the city says will be an affordable housing complex for seniors.

Ahmed Tigani, the First Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development tells PIX11 News, that the development will have "low income, truly affordable, senior housing, 40 of which will go to seniors WHO coming out of homeless shelters. We will also be able to establish 14,000 square feet of open space."

Haven Green, the affordable housing development was first proposed in 2018 and is planned to have 123 studios of affordable housing and 14,000 square feet of accessible green space.

Joseph Reiver, the Director of the Not-For-Profit, Elizabeth Street Garden tells PIX11 News they’ve worked with the mayor, deputy mayor, and councilmember to find other potential options for the affordable housing site. Even famous New Yorkers like Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Patti Smith wrote to Mayor Eric Adams in Aug. in support of keeping the garden.

Reiver said, "HPD is intentionally misleading people about the use of the space and they're creating a false choice, you know they don't have to destroy this."

Tigani said it was too soon to say when the ground would be broken on Haven Green. HPD is working with the City Marshal on the eviction process.

Reiver tells PIX11 News "We're going to do everything we can to stop that eviction." When asked what those options are, he answered "You'll see."