With a history of nearly 200 years as a public recreational space, the Elizabeth Street Garden is a publicly owned, privately leased community garden dotted with neoclassical statuary and nested between apartment buildings in Lower Manhattan’s North of Little Italy (Nolita) neighborhood. The Garden is open to the public daily. Neighborhood volunteers operate the Garden year-round and program more than 200 free, public educational, wellness and arts-related events annually for children, seniors and all who live and work in the community.
History
Although the garden in its current form is only 28 years old, the property has served as an outdoor community space for public enjoyment for almost two centuries. Designed by architect Charles B. J. Snyder, the design emphasized a central courtyard that opened onto Mott Street. Equipped with an outdoor kindergarten, the site featured an enclosed terrace with a flower garden in the northeast corner of the playground for students to enjoy fresh air.
In 1822 the Free School Society first purchased part of the current site as three lots on Mott Street to establish a public school, which would provide free classes for people of color in addition to regular schooling. Known as Public School No. 5, the space became an important community amenity, hosting lectures open to the public.
Although the school was expanded in 1857 and later repaired in 1871, growing demand resulted in a larger school being built in 1904 (named Public School No.21). Plans for the new school featured additional outdoor open space for students to play and the community to gather. By 1927 the entire city block was acquired by the Board of Education, which expanded the school, providing a larger area for recreation and public use. The school was demolished in the 1970s, leaving the entirety of Lot 41 unoccupied.
In 1990, Manhattan Community Board 2 Parks Committee passed a resolution in favor of leasing it to Allan Revier on a month-to-month basis. In 1991, the Elizabeth Street Garden was developed and created by Allan Reiver. Reiver planted an array of perennial flowers, native plants, and trees with a display of architectural remnants, gates, fencing, statuary, tables, and seating from his gallery collection. Beginning in 2005, the garden was accessible to the public through the Gallery.
2013: Elizabeth Street Garden must go!
Because of the lack of available land for affordable housing in an adjacent neighborhood, the New York City Council designated the garden as a potential site for redevelopment. A group of community members worked with Allan Reiver to revitalize the space and open the front gates to the public, introducing public programming and developing a significant base of support for saving the Garden. In August 2014 this group formed into Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden, Inc. (FESG).[
In April 2017, committed to exploring every option available to preserve and protect the Garden and save the Community green space in Nolita, members of FESG and the original community group branched off to form Elizabeth Street Garden, Inc. (ESG) which now manages the Garden, keeping the space open to the public seven days a week and providing free public and educational programming for the community.
In January 2019, Manhattan’s Community Board 2 voted unanimously to reject the plan to turn the one-acre Elizabeth Street Garden into affordable housing units. The development team behind the project was “disappointed but unsurprised”, but stressed that they are “confident” that the project will receive support moving forward with the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) onto the Manhattan Borough President’s office for review.