For those who gathered in Elizabeth Street Garden on Tuesday evening to celebrate its history and fight for its future, the greenspace is more than just an urban oasis; it is a collection of moments.
Nestled in Little Italy, it is where some met their significant other, where they found their voice as singers, and where they painted their first work of art.
But the city wants to upend the trees under which the poets conceived their limericks, tear down the gazebo where iconic musician Patti Smith played for locals in a sun-draped patch of green amidst a jungle of concrete and brick, and erect affordable housing.
Executive Director of the Elizabeth Street Garden Joseph Reiver calls the decision to maintain a local piece of heaven or sacrifice it for more living space a “false choice.” He believes there is room for both.
“The city says they need to destroy this garden for senior, affordable housing, and we’ve identified multiple sites, along with our community board and along with our city council member, that can get as much housing, if not more affordable housing, and they’re in the same neighborhood,” Reiver said. “This garden is not the equivalent of an empty lot. This garden serves the community. This garden has over 200,000 people coming throughout the year. It has free public programs. It has all sorts of things.”
In an effort to protest the city’s continued call for destruction and demolition, the garden held a demonstration not made up of chants and banner waving but instead through music and art.
The ceremony called for the preservation of the space using art by those who use it to inspire their work — including renowned singer Patti Smith, who played for the hundreds in attendance.
As the sun began to set, Smith raised her fist to the air, singing, “People have the power,” which became a rallying cry for all those in attendance. Serenading the crowd as they sat in the grass, just like she did back in the 1960s and 1970s, Smith sang about unity and strength with composer and guitarist Lenny Kaye.
Visitors clapped their hands, others threw their fists in the air, and many belted out the lyrics to her classic rock hits.
“As I was once told by a very great man, ‘Activists cannot prepare themselves to win, win win but to lose, lose, lose and get up again and start anew. And never give up. The act of never giving up is sometimes more important than winning one battle. We have to keep fighting and stick together,” Smith said.
Watching the performance, Reiver himself grew emotional, welling up with tears as he watched all the pinnacle of his life work come together amidst an uncertain future.
”It’s been heavy. But as much as I feel the weight of the city and the city government and the weight of the power of the mayor and the housing department, I feel the weight of the community behind me and with me, and there’s hundreds of volunteers, and there’s thousands of people who want to speak up and stand up and we’ll do whatever it takes to preserve the space,” Reiver told amNewYork.
The future of the beloved garden remains uncertain as the legal battle is now playing out in appeals court with fears that an unfavorable decision for supporters could come down at any moment, leaving locals pleading to chain themselves to the trees and fences.
Garden attorney Norman Siegel told onlookers to not give up and keep fighting.
“We won’t give up. When I was a young lawyer, not so young anymore, and went south in the summer of 1966 and learned from some great American heroes in the Southern civil rights movement, what they taught me was: keep your eyes on the prize. The prize here is the garden,” Siegel said. “We shall overcome.”
Reiver is asking the public to help save the garden by writing and calling their elected leaders and demanding that they work to protect the greenspace.
