Mamdani’s First Surrender?
By Alec Pruchnicki
When politicians run for office, they frequently make a variety of promises but after being elected those promises are not always kept. Sometimes this is because the politician was just plain lying during the campaign ─ or perhaps the candidate was overly optimistic ─ but often it is because some things are easier said than done. When elected officials try to follow through on a promise reality sets in and everything from budget priorities to outright political opposition appears.
Some of Mayor Mamdani’s promises have been partially kept, such as expanding pre-K classes. Others, such as the pied-a-terre tax are in the works and being implemented, however clumsily. And some, like free bus fares, have not been implemented but are still proposed with details being developed. But there are only a few that have been outright abandoned. One of these is for the renovation of the Dapolito Recreation Center. But, the promise for affordable housing (called Haven Green) on Elizabeth Street has been abandoned by the Mamdani administration and seems to be a complete surrender to those who wish the present garden to remain completely intact with no housing whatsoever.
I have been writing about the conflict between the garden supporters and housing advocates for about ten years. It has gone through the courts for many of those years and at the end of the Adams administration it looked as if the final court decision was in favor of the housing option. But at virtually the last minute, the Adams administration dropped its support for housing at the site. Perhaps it was an unsuccessful attempt to gain support from the politically powerful and well-financed garden advocates, or perhaps it was at the suggestion of Mayor Adams’ new advisor, Randy Mastro, or maybe some other reason that was not so obvious. In any case, it was gone.
When Mamdani was elected I, as a housing advocate, hoped that he would reverse some of Adams’ (or Mastro’s) last minute manipulations and push through the needed building. But he chose to give up the fight, cancel building at that site, and accept proposed alternatives at other locations. At first this seemed like a betrayal and going back on a strong promise. But it seems to me to be a surrender in the face of the usual post-election reality of strong political opposition.
And the opposition is particularly strong. The garden advocates include many Democratic district leaders who have significant influence in city politics. Mastro is a well-known and highly experienced, political fixer. Celebrities such as Robert DeNiro and Patti Smith supported the garden. The NY Times several years ago stated that the garden supporters had assets of almost $2 million to use for the fight. And although the decision at the end of the Adams administration was described as final, enough financial support and political pull could have changed this decision to “final” with some legal trick being used to prolong this fight for another 10 years. Although I can’t remember the exact source, I once read a quote from a Tammany Hall politician who said, “If you are going to court it is better to know the judge than to know the law.” Democratic district leaders know a lot of judges, as does Mastro. Finally, he was faced with the fact that many of the garden supporters had also supported his election, and could be reasonably depended on to support some of his policies in the future. After all, these are honorable people.
But there is a possible compromise that might get some affordable housing built nearby and maybe partially keep Mamdani’s promise. City Council Member Chris Marte had proposed several alternative sites to replace Haven Green. In the past I’ve criticized this proposal since the three sites on the Bowery, Gold Street, and Suffolk Street could have housing built on them in addition to, not instead of, Haven Green. The first two sites have plans in process to build market rate and/or luxury housing with a set aside percentage of affordable units. This is already in the works. But the Suffolk Street site is empty and plans for its use have not been announced as of this writing on September 21. It has been described as bigger than the Elizabeth Street site, allowing for about 180 apartments instead of the originally proposed 123.
Housing advocates also had a heavy hitter on their side ─ Habitat for Humanity. This nationally known non-profit organization is highly respected with a good track record of constructing low-income housing. I worried that they would never again want to work with New York City after spending ten years fighting over a failed attempt. But if the Suffolk Street site can accommodate a larger number of apartments, and if a negotiated agreement with Habitat or some other organization is worked out, and funding is available, and zoning is compatible, and no NIMBY opposition arises, and we can keep Mastro happy, this might be a viable alternative. But that’s a lot of “ands” to contend with in addition to the normal hurdles of getting anything built in New York City. But if the honorable people who supported the garden and embraced this compromise were to use their significant influence to advocate for housing there, maybe it can be done. We’ll see.
