The next mayor will need to make a choice about the fate of the Elizabeth Street Garden.
In June, the Adams administration canceled plans for 123 units of senior housing at the garden site, while touting an agreement with Council member Chris Marte to rezone three other sites that would net 620 affordable units.
The decision was a stunning reversal of the administration’s stance on the city-owned site, especially after years of litigation.
When asked at an event hosted by Hell Gate on Friday, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani confirmed that he would evict the garden from the Nolita site during his first year as mayor, if elected.
The response represented a more concrete commitment regarding the garden. He had previously indicated, before the June primary, that he believed housing should be built on the site.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that it is a “mistake to close gardens and green spaces” and that the city should focus on other sites suitable for affordable housing. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has long opposed evicting the garden.
If Mamdani is elected mayor and makes the Elizabeth Street Garden project, dubbed Haven Green, a priority, it will be interesting to see what becomes of the three zonings Marte pledged to support in exchange for sparing the garden. City Council leadership has repeatedly cited the Adams administration’s reversal on the garden as the height of its hypocrisy in pushing the housing ballot measures while also backing off of a housing project that was ready to go.
If the housing ballot measures do not pass, perhaps Mamdani’s action on the Elizabeth Street Garden would build enough goodwill with other Council members to convince them to vote against Marte’s wishes on those other rezonings.
But as I’ve previously noted, the value of the deal made by the Adams administration disappears if the ballot measures are approved. Marte’s buy-in will not necessarily be needed for those rezonings to move forward (assuming the next administration decides to move forward with those rezonings).
What we’re thinking about: If Mayor Eric Adams stacks the Rent Guidelines Board before he leaves office, who will he appoint? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: New Jersey is home to 16 diners that are open 24/7, according to NJ Advance Media.
Elsewhere in New York…
— MTA officials say that a plan to bring Metro-North trains to Penn Station and open four new stations in the Bronx is delayed by at least three years, Gothamist reports. Agency officials, who blame Amtrak, proposed opening three stations and delivering roughly 50 percent of planned service by 2027, which was when the entire project was supposed to be completed. Now, officials say the project won’t be finished until at least 2030. Amtrak controls much of the route that would bring Metro-North trains to Penn, and the MTA says the federal agency has not cooperated. A spokesperson for Amtrak told Gothamist that the agency is “committed” to the project.
— A new poll by Suffolk University Boston found that 44 percent of likely NYC general election voters support Zohran Mamdani, compared to 34 percent who support Andrew Cuomo and 11 percent who favor Curtis Sliwa, CBS News reports. The poll shows that Cuomo has cut Mamdani’s lead in half, by 10 percentage points, compared to the last Suffolk University poll in September.
— More than 223,000 New Yorkers voted in the first three days of early voting, according to the city Board of Elections.
Closing Time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Monday was $16.3 million for a condominium unit at 988 Fifth Avenue. The Upper East Side unit is 3,300 square feet and last sold on the market in 2022 for $14.6 million. Douglas Elliman’s Richard Phan has the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $66.2 million for 630 Third Avenue. ATCO Properties & Management sold the 260,000-square-foot office building in Midtown to The Davis Companies, per reports.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $11 million for a co-op unit at 800 Park Avenue. The Lenox Hill co-op has six bedrooms and six bathrooms. Corcoran’s Steven Cohen and Stefanie Ruch have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building permit filed was for a proposed 71,748-square-foot, 15-story residential building at 4137 Third Avenue in the Bronx. Fernando Geremia of Fred Geremia Architects & Planners is the applicant of record.
— Joseph Jungermann
