Fwd: Court of Appeals Decision

[Magali Regis]

to/bcc: nyc gardeners lists

This is not the news I had hoped to share...so the fight continues. Please take a minute to send a letter to the mayor and forward this mail to your networks and ask your friends and families to send one as well. It literally takes a minute. Thanks,

m.

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	Court of Appeals Decision
Date:	Tue, 18 Jun 2024 21:21:12 +0000
From:	Elizabeth Street Garden <in...@elizabethstreetgarden.com>
Reply-To:	Elizabeth Street Garden <in...@elizabethstreetgarden.com>
To:	fleur...@mindspring.com

In This Issue: Court of Appeals Decision Send A Letter To The Mayor  How You Can Help Share Tweet Forward The Court of Appeals has ruled 6-1 against the garden. The 6 judges, Rowan Wilson, Shirley Troutman, Madeline Singas, Michael Garcia, Anthony Cannataro, and Caitlin Halligan agreed with the City’s determination that destroying Elizabeth Street Garden would have no significant impact on the neighborhood or environment. The Court’s ruling is 4 pages long and might as well have been rubber-stamped.   The ruling is followed by a 24-page dissenting opinion from Judge Jenny Rivera, which includes a thorough consideration of the issue and concludes that “the City failed to take the requisite hard look at the climate change impact of the project, including the reduction in open space, and did not provide a reasoned elaboration for its determination. The Appellate Division thus erroneously concluded that HPD complied with both state and city environmental quality review laws. I cannot agree with the majority’s overly deferential approach that allows for less than rigorous environmental  assessment. I dissent.”  This decision is not only a loss for our community but for environmental review and open space across the city & state. However, our effort to protect & preserve Elizabeth Street Garden is not over and our legal team is considering all remaining options.  We intend to see this through to the very end. The best thing supporters can do at this point is donate to the legal fund and send a letter to the administration through our letter-writing campaign.  Thank you all for your continued support. ✿ DONATE ✿ Send A Letter To The Mayor The City is attempting to evict the garden this September! Send a pre-written letter to Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) demanding they stop the eviction and work with the community to save Elizabeth Street Garden! We've extended our goal to 200,000 letters!  SEND A LETTER! The City is moving forward with their attempt to evict and destroy the garden. Our legal team is working hard in court and we are doing everything we can to achieve a solution that saves the garden and gets much-needed affordable housing at existing alternative sites within our Community Board and Council districts. Community green space and affordable housing should never come at the expense of one another! Please share this graphic on your social channels with the link to write!  How You Can Help Save ESG As the two legal cases remain pending, it is vital that we continue to raise the necessary funds. We sincerely thank you for your continued support. Donate Today! - Support our legal defense fund, ongoing garden maintenance, and administrative expenses.  Volunteer - Join our ever-growing community of volunteers to help keep the garden open & beautiful for all!  Support the plan to preserve ESG as a Conservation Land Trust - Join over 130 local organizations, Elected reps, and leaders in supporting the plan to preserve the garden in the best most cost-effective way for the community.  Share This Newsletter! - Help us spread the word by using the links below!  If you would like to introduce the Garden to potential donors, please email in...@elizabethstreetgarden.com  ✿ DONATE ✿ Share Tweet Forward Contribute online, or mail a check to: Elizabeth Street Garden, Inc 209 Elizabeth Street New York, NY 10012 If you would like to introduce the Garden to potential donors, please email in...@elizabethstreetgarden.com  Share Tweet Forward ✿ DONATE ✿ ElizabethStreetGarden.com #ElizabethStreetGarden #SaveESG Elizabeth Street Garden, Inc. (ESG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in 2016 in New York with the mission to protect & preserve the magic of Elizabeth Street Garden as a public community green space and to determine how the City together with the community can protect the Garden for generations to enjoy.  Contributions made for the charitable purposes of Elizabeth Street Garden are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Copyright © 2024 *Elizabeth Street Garden Inc, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Elizabeth Street Garden 209 Elizabeth St. New York, NY  10012   Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list