New York City’s decision to evict a popular city-owned garden in one of the wealthiest parts of Manhattan to make way for affordable housing was a done deal as recently as a month ago, despite pressure from Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith.
But the battle is apparently not over now that one more well-connected influencer has become engaged: Randy Mastro, a high-powered lawyer who was recently appointed as Mayor Eric Adams’s first deputy mayor.
Mr. Mastro has in recent days discussed backing away from the project, according to five people familiar with the effort. City officials could have booted the garden’s nonprofit tenant as early as March 24, according to court records. But at Mr. Mastro’s request, they have been asked to stand down for now, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It remains unclear if the mayor will side with Mr. Mastro. Adolfo Carrión Jr., the deputy mayor for housing, believes the project should move forward, according to three people familiar with the situation. Mr. Adams, who casts himself as a working-class, pro-housing mayor, has not publicly changed his position.
“Randy is not trying to persuade the mayor of anything,” said Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokeswoman for Mr. Adams. “He is simply assessing the project because it’s in his portfolio and he is new to the job.”
Ms. Mamelak Altus said that Mr. Mastro was reviewing all city projects now underway, including the Elizabeth Street Garden housing development, which was a priority of Mr. Mastro’s predecessor.
“Mayor Adams has been consistent on this matter and his commitment to building affordable housing has not changed,” she added.
The 11th-hour push to reconsider the garden eviction is also backed by Frank Carone, the mayor’s former chief of staff and a friend to both Mr. Adams and Mr. Mastro.
“If there is a compromise available that hears the voices of the community, which wants to preserve this incredible open space, while at the same time achieving similar housing goals, then of course that is a better decision and outcome!” he said in a text message.
If the city were to change its position, it would be a striking abdication of the Adams administration’s stated goals of bringing affordable housing to wealthier parts of New York, one of the most segregated cities in the United States. It would again illustrate that despite the rise of pro-density sentiment in urban areas, New York City remains an extraordinarily difficult place to build housing.
The council district in Lower Manhattan that encompasses the garden trails the citywide average for affordable housing construction, according to a tracker maintained by the New York Housing Conference, an advocacy group.
Last year, the administration and the City Council passed a plan to bring up to 80,000 units of new housing to areas across the city. The mayor frequently talks about the city’s acute housing shortage and the need for every neighborhood to accommodate new homes.
The Elizabeth Street project that City Hall is now reconsidering, known as Haven Green, would create 123 homes for older people on limited incomes, including dozens of apartments for people who were formerly homeless. But a fight over the development has dragged on for more than 10 years, with advocates for preserving the garden lobbying city officials and filing several lawsuits to delay and disrupt the effort.
Developers behind the project, including Pennrose and Habitat for Humanity, had no immediate comment on Thursday. Kieran Harrington, the chief executive of RiseBoro, another developer involved in the project, said he had not been contacted by the city about any changes.
New York City is in dire need of more affordable housing for senior residents. More than 300,000 older adults are on wait lists for federally subsidized affordable housing, according to LiveOn NY, an advocacy group, and there are another 220,000 open applications for senior apartments through the city’s affordable housing lottery.
Opponents of the project have said that it would eliminate one of the few remaining green spaces in the neighborhood.
The city has noted that the new development would also have a garden and that it would be accessible to the public. Officials have also pointed out that city-owned sites on which housing can be built are few and far between.
The possible retreat from the project has prompted worries from the people who helped negotiate it, including Alicia Glen, a former deputy mayor, and Margaret Chin, a former member of the City Council who represented the area.
“After more than a decade of incredibly hard work to put together a project that will provide desperately needed affordable senior housing and beautiful open space, it would be outrageous for the city to abandon it,” said Ms. Glen, who worked on the development from 2015 to 2019.
Joseph Reiver, the executive director of the nonprofit that manages the garden and one of the opponents of Haven Green, did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Adams has been outspoken in his support for the development. When Mr. Reiver, joined by supporters wearing green shirts, asked him to reconsider the project at a 2023 town hall and build housing elsewhere, Mr. Adams pointed to the scarcity of apartments in the city.
“I don’t know if you guys understand what’s going on right now — there’s no housing, folks,” he said. “We may have to build on that spot, we may have to build on the alternative spots you’re talking about. Why do you think we have so many people in homeless shelters? Because they have vouchers and they can’t find housing.”
“If you telling me, ‘Eric, don’t build housing somewhere,’ my next question to all of you with the signs and the green shirts, ‘Are you homeless?’” he continued. “‘Do you have a home?’”
Supporters of the project note that the garden’s backers are well-housed. The nonprofit that runs the garden had nearly $1.9 million in assets, according to its 2023 tax filing.
Dana Rubinstein covers New York City politics and government for The Times.
Mihir Zaveri covers housing in the New York City region for The Times.
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