Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 11
Margaret Chin Backed 123 Senior Housing Units at Elizabeth Street Garden
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 11

Margaret Chin Backed 123 Senior Housing Units at Elizabeth Street Garden

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 11

Summary

  • September 2012 plans called for 123 affordable units for older New Yorkers on the 20,000-square-foot Elizabeth Street Garden site in Manhattan's NoLIta, a proposal Margaret Chin continued to defend in 2015.
  • Chin argued the city-owned lot was underused and said building there would help seniors and their families remain in the neighborhood they helped build.
  • The Bloomberg administration transferred the property to the New York City Housing Authority, turning the garden fight into a long legal and political battle over whether the site should become housing or remain open space.
  • By 2014, residents and local businesses had formed Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden to preserve the site as a community space, setting up the conflict that later drew mayoral intervention.

Insights

Could a last-minute settlement over a Manhattan garden actually create more senior housing than the original decade-old plan?
How can densely populated cities balance the desperate need for affordable senior homes with the preservation of rare green spaces?
Will the abrupt cancellation of an approved housing project set a dangerous precedent for future development in New York City?