Garden Supporters to de Blasio: Visit Elizabeth Street Garden, Save Our Garden!

On Monday morning, I got an invite to go meet with supports of Elizabeth Street Garden.   We were going to meet at Cooper Union where the mayor was speaking.  Our task, to ask  the mayor, who has said he would, to come visit our garden and hopefully stop the call  proposal to bulldoze the garden. With flurries in the air, I rode to join the other gardeners, who’ve been writing and  lobbying the mayor and other elected officials to save the garden.  “The city has not gone after gardens like this since the late 1990s,” I argued chatting  with the other garden supporters standing with our signs. “Gayle Brewer’s office says it’s a done deal,” noted another woman. “No, this will be a huge PR black eye for the mayor,” I followed recalling the days  of Esperanza Garden, when the city went after the legendary East Village Community  Garden in 2000. “We want to invite him, not scream at him,” noted another supporter. Just then the mayor walked by. We gave him a flyer. “Come visit the garden!” we screamed.  He kept on walking, not smiling, not  acknowledging us. Environmental issues seem off his radar. He looked tired.   It must be exhausting to sell out the communities he committing to supporting  and working with when he was elected. “You promised to be the mayor for all New Yorkers,” I screamed as he walked  by. Not just developers.

Garden supporters in action.  Hello Garden Volunteers, Invite the Mayor to Visit the Garden! Join us on Monday as we show the Mayor how much the Garden means to us. Cooper Union Great Hall Monday, Nov 21, 10 – 11 a.m. 7 East 7th Street (b/n 3rd & 4th Aves.)  Meet at the Peter Cooper Statue. This is not a protest, but an invitation to the Mayor to visit the Garden made  more powerful by your presence! Mayor de Blasio said he would "happily" visit Elizabeth Street Garden when  asked by a Garden supporter on the Brian Lehrer Show.  Help us re-extend  the invitation in front of the Great Hall at Cooper Union where the Mayor is  scheduled to give a major speech at 11 a.m.     Please email me directly if you can attend! To attend the Mayor's speech, RSVP here. Write the Developers! Take 2 minutes to let potential developers know how committed we are  to saving  Elizabeth Street Garden before they spend time and money preparing  proposals for the City. Click here to Submit a letter today! Let's open the Garden on Thanksgiving and Christmas! In town for the holidays?  Interested in volunteering an hour of your time? Click here to sign up between 11:00am and 4:00pm Many of us need a breath of fresh air during what can be a stressful time of year. Volunteer an hour of your time to keep the Garden open on the days that our  ACE staffers have a well deserved break! See you in the Garden! Em   Lately, garden supporters have been writing the developers themselves to implore  them to step back from this project. Dear Developer: Elizabeth Street Garden is a beloved neighborhood park that our community  is fully committed to saving. We will fight the development process every   step of the way — politically, legally and economically. We will accept no compromise to keeping the entire park. Our community  values all 20,000 square feet of Elizabeth Street Garden. This beloved   neighborhood park, the “soul of our neighborhood,” cannot be replaced   by a few benches and planting beds sandwiched between buildings  and luxury retail.  I encourage you to visit Elizabeth Street Garden or take a virtual tour  by viewing recent videos and annual report photos at  elizabethstreetgarden.org/about to see why the Garden is: - The only green space in our park-starved neighborhood. - The focus of a grassroots movement supported by residents and local  small businesses that have sent more than 5,000 letters of support to the   mayor. - Too small a site for both a meaningful park and a successful  affordable housing project. - Located on a former public school site that was long ago, in 1981,  promised for public open space and recreation. - Supported as a public park by almost every local elected official  — Representative Jerrold Nadler, State Senator Brad Hoylman,  State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, Assemblymember Deborah J.  Glick, Assemblymember-elect Yuh-Line Niou and NYC Comptroller  Scott M. Stringer, as well as Manhattan Community Board 2, former  NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, and 16 parks and  community organizations listed at elizabethstreetgarden.org/supporters. Saving Elizabeth Street Garden has united our local community like no  other cause or initiative. We invite you to visit the Garden to understand   why it is so special. And instead of submitting a proposal, please help us  save our special park and make a positive contribution to public life in  New York City.