New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reluctantly jettisoned his campaign promise to demolish the 20,000-square-foot Elizabeth Street Garden in Lower Manhattan in favor of affordable housing for seniors.
The garden would have been razed in favor of a 123-unit housing project, but the plan drew opposition from many local residents, including prominent celebrities such as Robert De Niro and Patti Smith.
The New York Post reports the mayor’s action comes a week before a scheduled court hearing on the issue. Mamdani blamed Randy Mastro, the first deputy mayor in the predecessor administration of former Mayor Eric Adams, for making it “nearly impossible for us to move forward.” The day before Mamdani’s election last November, the Elizabeth Street Garden was designated as official city parkland. That designation can only be reversed by the state legislature, with Mamdani admitting his predecessors effectively blocked him.
“I think we’ve been clear that the actions of the prior administration made it nearly impossible to proceed on that vision and proceed on it in a way that would be realistic,” he said.
In a statement, Mastro declared, “Even when Mayor Mamdani does the right thing and I praise him for it — like maintaining Elizabeth Street Garden as dedicated parkland and producing even more affordable housing in the process (just as our administration proposed) — he still takes a swipe at me. So, another legal battle won, but apparently can’t win with him.”
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