The developers selected to build affordable senior housing at the Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan have filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that Mayor Eric Adams acted unlawfully by designating the site as parkland without following required procedures.
Pennrose, Habitat NYC, and Riseboro were chosen in 2017 to develop 123 units of senior housing on the city-owned property. On Wednesday, they filed a complaint stating that Adams unilaterally decided to dedicate the land as a city park without going through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), which is mandated for such changes.
“Nothing in State or local law, the City Charter, or otherwise empowers the mayor or mayoral agencies to dedicate City-owned land as parkland,” according to the lawsuit.
The complaint lists Adams, along with several city departments and First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, as defendants. The suit refers to reports of a November 6 letter from Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Louis Molia to Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa. In that letter, Molia stated that “the city unequivocally and permanently dedicates this property to public use as parkland.”
This action followed an earlier reversal by the Adams administration regarding Haven Green—the planned affordable housing project—after previously securing legal authority to evict the nonprofit managing the Nolita garden. Instead of moving forward with development at Elizabeth Street Garden, officials struck an agreement with Council member Chris Marte to support rezoning three other sites expected to yield 620 affordable units—over 400 more than initially proposed for Haven Green.
The decision has been criticized by City Council leaders, developers, housing advocates and other elected officials after years of litigation over control of the site. The developers’ lawsuit claims that switching from a “shovel-ready” project like Haven Green in favor of less certain alternatives is questionable. It also raises concerns about relationships among key figures involved in both supporting and opposing development at Elizabeth Street Garden.
The complaint further notes that formal designation of parkland requires not only ULURP but also assessments by the parks department regarding needs, costs and budget allocations.
In their statement, Pennrose and its partners said they are seeking a temporary restraining order: “to preserve the incoming administration’s ability to make decisions about the property’s future.”
Ultimately, they want a court ruling annulling Adams’ declaration. They argue it was intended “to prevent the next mayor from implementing the project and to deliver by unlawful fiat an unearned victory to well-heeled private interests that had fought Haven Green from the start.”
Before this month’s election, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani had indicated plans to proceed with Haven Green if elected. After Adams declared Elizabeth Street Garden a park, Mamdani told reporters continuing with development would be “nearly impossible.” Any non-park use would now require approval from New York State lawmakers.
The lawsuit contends this approach could set broad precedents affecting how land-use decisions are made across New York City:
“If allowed to stand, Respondents’ actions would establish dangerous precedents: that the Mayor, or any mayoral agency, could unilaterally overturn a completed ULURP by executive fiat; that a land-use decision duly vetted, debated, and approved by the City Council may be silently reversed without public process; and that the rule of law governing New York City’s land-use system can be disregarded and displaced by political convenience and preference,” according to court filings. “That is not what the City Charter mandates, and it is not how a lawful government functions.”
Representatives for Mayor Adams did not respond immediately when asked for comment.
