Elizabeth Street Garden

HOST: Little Italy is famous for being the home turf of giant actors like Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorcese, not for its green spaces. But in 2013, when a garden opened up on Elizabeth Street, long-time residents called it an oasis to Little Italy.

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Reilly : Tucked into a gated space between Mott and Elizabeth Streets is the Elizabeth Street Garden. It's a roughly 2000 square foot park dotted with sculptures, planting and seating areas. On rainy days it feels an enchanted Victorian garden in the middle of SoHo and Little Italy 

Jonathan (Volunteer) :  the Garden is a very special place in this community and I think in New York City as well.

Reilly : Jonathan is a volunteer at the garden, and has lived in the area for over 20 years. Along with other community members, he maintains the garden, raking leaves, and keeping paths clear for visitors.

Jonathan (Volunteer) :  it's very sad that the city, doesn't see the importance in this garden, see the importance of green space, not only in New York City, but particularly in this area where we really need it.

Keily : The garden is one of the few green open spaces in Soho. For more a decade, advocates for the garden have been battling the city, which plans to build affordable housing on the site.

Reilly : That’s Jennein Keily, President of the Friends of Elizabeth street Graden, the local organization working to preserve the space.

Keily : It's a beautiful garden and a park like setting you can walk in off the streets and you just relax for a few minutes before going on with your day.

And that's makes it a wonderful, Respite in an otherwise very dense neighborhood, that has very little open space.  So, it really is a much needed.

Reilly : Friends of the Garden have filed multiple lawsuits, one of which cites the visual Arts Rights act of 1990, a federal law that protects public works. The organization has also suggested alternative sites for the new housing. City officials were unable to be interviewed in time for this broadcast but said that the land is owned by the city and was leased for use as a garden pending future development. They also say that the new housing will incorporate new, and publicly accessible green spaces into the design. Madeline Reilly, Uptown Radio.