James Barron
The city plans to turn a sanctuary on the edge of Little Italy into housing for older New Yorkers. Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith pleaded on the garden’s behalf.
Good morning. It’s Thursday. Today we’ll look at a last-minute effort by three celebrities who oppose the city’s efforts to reclaim a garden in NoLIta for an affordable housing project. We’ll also get details on the state attorney general’s response to Donald Trump’s appeal of his $454 million civil fraud judgment.
A little park in NoLIta is getting last-minute support from some big names — Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith.
They have written letters to Mayor Eric Adams protesting the eviction of a nonprofit group that turned the city-owned lot into a green space known as the Elizabeth Street Garden in the 1990s. Smith, who noted that she had read poetry and had performed there, called the garden “an entirely unique public sanctuary.” De Niro wrote that “taking away the Elizabeth Street Garden is erasing part of our city’s unique cultural history and heritage.”
The city said that it was moving ahead with its plan for the site: an affordable housing complex with 123 apartments for older New Yorkers. About 50 apartments will go to older people who are homeless.
The letters are the latest salvo in the garden’s campaign to save itself. The letters come on top of thousands of others that have gone to city officials, as the group tries to sway public opinion after losing a legal challenge.
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