A-listers tell Eric Adams to stop – NBC New York

The fight to save a beloved garden located in the middle of a Manhattan block received support this week from a number of high-profile celebrities who made heartfelt pleas to save a piece of the city.

Patti Smith, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro wrote letters to Mayor Eric Adams in the hope that plans to clear Elizabeth Street Gardens would be changed in favor of building a new affordable housing complex.

The garden is known for its regular programming that invites New Yorkers and all passersby to music events, movie nights and group classes such as Tai Chi and yoga, to name a few.

The city owns the land and is looking to sell it to a developer who will build a senior citizen building there. The current plan calls for 123 senior citizen housing units, 50 of which will go to homeless seniors. The park is scheduled to be vacated on September 10.

The garden's leadership team took the city to court after the city council approved the housing plans in 2019. The New York Times reported that the group won the first fight in the state Supreme Court but lost twice on appeal.

Some senior citizens in the neighborhood believe this is not a fair exchange, including Raoul Ollman, who has the right to live in one of the social housing units.

“Why destroy it? It brings so much joy to so many people and is such an important part of this neighborhood,” he told News 4 last month.

Despite public pressure, the city is sticking to its plan. But that hasn't stopped the outcry. Some of the most prominent supporters came together this week when a handful of famous New Yorkers wrote letters to Adams.

“When I was growing up, Little Italy was more or less a concrete jungle. We played in the alleys. There was no interaction, no greenery, no quiet – something every neighborhood needs,” Martin Scorsese wrote to Adams.

“The destruction of this garden would be a sad development for the district and the city.”

In her letter, Patti Smith wrote about the beauty of the garden, the life it brings to the community, and the art that thrives within and outside its walls.

“The Elizabeth Street Garden is a completely unique public sanctuary where art, nature, literature and activism coexist peacefully,” she wrote. “I have had the privilege of reading and singing poetry at the garden's serene yet celebratory gatherings, attended by people of all ages, friends and neighbors, and tourists with their children.”

“Affordable housing and green spaces are both important assets and should not [be] nailed against each other.”

The city's housing commissioner, Adolfo Carrión Jr., said the letters would have no effect.

“It really doesn't matter who sends a letter,” Carrión told the Times. “I'm sure the letter writers they've recruited in some cases don't know the full context of the history of the place, let alone understand the crisis we're facing.”