Plans for the Elizabeth Street Garden just hit yet another snag.
When a state appellate court unanimously rules against a party, the chances of appealing the case to New York’s highest court are usually…not good.
Why? A unanimous decision against a party means that party does not automatically have the right to take their case to the Court of Appeals. They have to ask permission. In those cases, a party is basically asking the same court that unequivocally said “you lose” if they can go over the court’s head and get a second opinion.
Understandably, the appellate division is not always keen to say, “hey maybe we got it wrong, give it a shot.”
But it does sometimes happen, as is the case with the challenge to senior housing at the sculpture garden in Little Italy. The appellate court on Thursday granted Elizabeth Street Garden (the name of the group that sued to preserve the garden) leave to try their luck with the Court of Appeals.
Of course, leave to file an appeal does not mean the group will succeed, as City Hall noted today.
“The granting of leave says nothing about how the case will turn out,” a spokesperson for the law department said in a statement. “We are confident in our position and look forward to making our case to support this important project for seniors who urgently need access to more affordable housing.”
Pennrose’s plans for the site include 123 apartments for low-income seniors, along with public green space. The city is still trying to evict the garden (its lease expired in 2021) in a separate case.
The fight over the project might strike anyone outside of NYC as surprising: The plan calls for senior housing on city-owned land, and includes public space. At the same, anyone who has walked through the park, experienced the peculiar tranquility of scarfing down a Black Seed Bagel while staring down a statue of a Sphinx, can understand why people in the neighborhood would not want to lose that space.
But, and it is a big but, there is a shortage of affordable housing. And if the city can’t build low-income housing for seniors on land owned by the city, it is not clear how more ambitious plans for housing can hope to move forward.
What we’re thinking about: Are you attending the mayor’s “birthday” fundraiser? Tell me about it at kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Austin, Texas, has a Tree of the Year award. The award, which was launched in 2007 and ran until 2013, was revived last year by the TreeFolks and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. There are five categories for the award: Large tree, small tree, unique tree, story tree and schoolyard tree. The winner is determined by popular vote.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Former President Donald Trump’s civil trial on business fraud charges is slated to begin Monday, Politico New York reports. An appeals court on Thursday rejected Trump’s request to postpone the trial.
— NYC is sinking, but LaGuardia, Arthur Ashe Stadium, Interstate 7 and Highway 440 are sinking at the fastest pace, the Washington Post reports. These major pieces of infrastructure are sinking more than 2 millimeters a year, higher than the average of 1.6 millimeters a year for other parts of the city.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential closing Thursday was $5.3 million for a condo and a condo without a kitchen at 251 West 89th Street on the Upper West Side.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $9.7 million for an office building at 22 West 23rd Street in Flatiron.
New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Thursday was a condo at 520 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill asking $28.5 million. Official has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building filing of the day was for a 4,711 square-foot, two-story, two-family home at 279 Norway Avenue, Staten Island. Lawrence Mandarino Architect filed the permit application. — Jay Young