*photographed people are blurred or taken from the back to protect identities.

“Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.”

Patti Smith

“When the doors finally open, more than a hundred lives will be, would have been permanently, changed for the better, and at least 50 human beings will not suffer the horrors of homelessness”

Ross Barkan, Craine’s NY

The Elizabeth Street Garden only became a garden when the lessee heard it was to be slated for affordable housing. Until then, it was his private parking lot, dog run and marketplace for luxury artifacts – rented (expensively) for movie shoots, commercials and fashion shoots for Vogue.

The Haven Green site was planned to be shared affordable housing with open green space. For over ten years many have waited for this senior housing to be built in Little Italy. Some died waiting for it.

Instead we are offered ‘housing’ in as yet unvetted, and some contested, places which will take years to build, if it is built at all. And a chilling effect on any reputable organization willing to risk ten years to (possibly) build affordable housing.

Meanwhile, the crushing lack of affordable housing, homelessness, and elder poverty rage on.

– Applications for affordable senior housing in NYC are over 520,000 and growing.
-We had almost 93,000 homeless New Yorkers in December.
– The number of single adults ages 65+ in the city’s main shelter system more than doubled from 2014 to 2022.
– Poverty rates for older adults: Manhattan 16.3%. AARP

-Citywide, the number of older adults living in poverty surged by 40.9 percent over the past decade. Overall, 18.4 percent of the city’s older adults live in poverty. Center for an Urban Future
-65% of older New Yorkers surveyed live on less than $15,000 a year. 32% don’t receive social security. One in five older women live below the poverty level”. LiveOnNY

Speaker Adrienne Adams:

“Amidst a severe housing and affordability crisis, Mayor Adams’ First Deputy Mayor Mastro, and their administration have betrayed New Yorkers who are in desperate need of affordable homes. Their political interference to stop the building of Haven Green’s 123 units of deeply affordable housing for older adults, with 14,000 square feet of public space, is yet another example of this mayoral administration’s capitulation to special interests.

This shows the Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission to be the height of hypocrisy and a sham for ignoring the role mayoral administrations play in obstructing new housing for New Yorkers. The Mayor is not only overturning a housing approval by the Council from six years ago, but also denying homes to older adults, as he fails to address our housing crisis with this decision.” 

Large Incomes. Meager Affordable Housing Built in CB2

-Median household income in 2022 was $165,380, about 113% more than citywide median household income ($77,550)
-Over the last decade, 1,453 units were built in [CB2]. 92% were market rate. 7% income-targeted.

ESG supporters comments

“It’s very whimsical” “wonderful wonderland.” CB2 member: “Our Belgian blocks/cobblestones are our contribution [instead of affordable housing]” “lives in Midtown but visits the beloved urban oasis frequently.”
“I think that culture of care is something that kind of is missing from a lot of spaces in our world” “Losing this garden is tantamount to “community and ethnic cleansing [to applause] ” “My dog loves this place” “There will not be one blade of grass in the garden that’s proposed”

Proponents

Advocates are well-housed preservationists, movie stars, photographers, ‘radical’ musicians, housed individuals (some in protected affordable housing). Some major media reporters,  for-profit real estate entities and nearby recent upscaled shops. Vocal supporters with PR firms, the lessees who charge handsomely to use this city-owned space for movies and fashion shoots (see Vogue), fluent in English, and those with housing affordable to them (whether adjacent $3.5 million condos or the affordable housing abutting this site, and [problematically] a NYT article using children who had little chance of hearing why an affordable housing/shared open space might be desirable (“your grandmother will be able to stay nearby”?).

One prominent newspaper took a reporter off the story when the Garden found a Tweet that seemed too sympathetic to the housing.

How does the preservation of a city-owned site, solely for a garden, sound to those who are in desperate need of accessible housing they can afford?

What reporters climbed the stairs of fourth floor walk-ups or went into the shelters here to find out? To ask for their views?

What of the elders who don’t speak English, who if offered housing at all, are offered it in another borough, away from communities they built and the languages they speak?

What of the elders with those poles across their backs swinging huge plastic garbage bags full of painstakingly collected bottles from the trash?

Or those elders living in shelters, or elders who’ve lived here before it became fashionable who can no longer get down the 4 flights of stairs? Or Puerto Rican, Italian and Dominican elders who were pushed out of Little Italy by the gentrification brought by many who support “only a garden” without affordable housing?

Intimidation

Or those who could not withstand the booing they were greeted with when did they openly ask for Haven Green’s affordable housing? Or greeted with suspicion, like the Chinese elders who came in support of funding for greater affordability – described as being “bussed in”? Or the father of Black children who wanted to support the housing but left without speaking as the well-heeled crowd booed anyone in favor of it? Or the Chinese elders who don’t speak English, who if offered housing at all, are offered it in another borough away from their communities and the language they speak?

What of those for whom it is already too late?:

86 year old Adele Sarno whose landlord evicted her from Grand Street home of 50 years, the elderly woman who died from smoke inhalation in a fire in a 4^th floor walkup on Mott Street. Or a former CB2 member, Tom, pleading with his colleagues to build housing as he was getting priced out of his home (now passed away). Or the Stonewall elders who survived the AIDS epidemic and Covid, now trying to survive the housing crisis. Or the Gay -Rights activist: “I live in a six-floor walkup, and for the past year and a half, I’ve been in court with my new landlord.” Or in the very first meeting in 2014? on this: the Italian woman and her grandson who, shaking, asked for housing since her husband could no longer get downstairs – after a room full of supporters with a power point presentation, signs, and a movie star in a PR short film told us it was for the best. Or the 89 year old volunteer caretaker of a  beautiful GreenThumb garden two blocks from this site who found affordable housing in upper Manhattan but must take an hour long bus ride (each way) almost daily to get to his former neighborhood, using a walker – despite his heart condition.

The view from a former homeless person:

“I think people usually use the term ‘homelessness’ without ever really being able to understand what it means…the single worst bodily aspect of homelessness is exhaustion…sleep-deprivation, hunger, and a constant need to remain on the move… finding somewhere to simply be…nowhere that offers dryness, safety, cleanliness, warmth and comfort…

but…the real and deepest damage of homelessness: the loneliness……It’s the experience of being utterly unwanted, of your very presence being an undesirable commodity in all places and all situations. Wherever you are, as a homeless person, you are unwelcome.”

– Rachel Moran,  Paid For

You may see Versailles.

But all I hear is: “Let them eat cake”.

K Webster

*photographed people are blurred or taken from the back to protect identities.

https://www.havengreencommunity.nyc/faq/

 https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160918/nolita/heres-what-you-need-know-about-fight-over-elizabeth-street-garden/

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/562a3197e4b0493d4ffd3105/t/667dc5ad03c7896fe219abf7/1719518637303/LiveOn+NY+Affordable+Senior+Housing+Report+-+June+2024.pdf  

Why More Older New Yorkers Are Ending Up in Homeless Shelters
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/nyregion/nyc-homeless-older-people.html#:~:text=About%20315%2C000%20older%20New%20Yorkers,many%20buildings%20have%20longer%20waits

 https://states.aarp.org/new-york/aarp-ny-on-state-of-city-36-growth-in-nycs-older-adult-population-means-more-must-be-done

LiveOnNY https://www.liveon-ny.org/news/2019/1/24/agingwomen

Furman Center https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/greenwich-village-soho

Opinion: Beware the Trojan Horse of Alternative Housing Proposals
https://citylimits.org/2024/03/08/opinion-beware-the-trojan-horse-of-alternative-housing-proposals/

Articles Pro Affordable Housing with Green Space:

M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden

Debra Jeffreys-Glass

with Shweta Patwardhan and Aja Gyimah organizers of this years Juneteenth.

with thanks to Chinatown Partnership for lending us the tents!

And ALL these folks!

The Chinese Progressive Association Mae Lee’s advocacy for democracy is long standing and constant.

This day she and volunteers were out in front of the M’Finda Garden’s gate Offering information with ballots for our preferences for where NYC should spend its money:

“The People’s Money 2025”

You Pick, We Pay – Decide how to spend part of the city’s budget today!

Civic Empowerment Commission

A beautiful day and a beautiful play.

Presented by The Remote Theater Project

Written by Carmen Rivera
Directed by Alexandra Aron

featured: Christopher Bisram, Darlenis Duran, Yike (Coco) Huang, Andy Law, Johnny Rivera

With Po Ling’s Open Door Senior Center

Inside Change Arts

“Master Li” Artist

and a host of onlookers… provided a beautiful, funny, loving play – for free – in the park.

The Remote Theater Project Presents:

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING ’25!  They have returned to Sara Roosevelt Park with funding from NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

With thanks to the NYC Parks Department.

“Working with Chinese seniors at the Open Door Senior Center, new migrant families at the Hanbee Hotel, and with unhoused folks around the park, we have heard some incredible stories.

Join us FRIDAY, JUNE 20th, shows at 1pm and 3pm, for a memorable site-specific performance in “The Pit” at Broome St (between Forsyth and Christie Streets).”

Written by Carmen Rivera
Directed by Alexandra Aron

featured: Christopher Bisram, Darlenis Duran, Yike (Coco) Huang, Andy Law, Johnny Rivera

Thank you for Listening ’25’  builds on work that delved deeply into the stories of the people in our neighborhoods.

Ordinary and distinct real people surviving in a harsh place, often set against each other, yet still daring to make common cause in the midst of a splintering world.

Albert Schweitzer said, “Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown into a flame by another. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.”

We thank The Remote Theater Project for these brilliant sparks along our paths.

– K. Webster, President Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition

Testify in support of PEP at the 6/23 Public Safety Hearing

Next week, the City Council’s Committee on Public Safety is holding a hearing on public safety in parks. This is an opportunity to call for the urgently needed restoration of funding for our Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officers.

When: Monday, June 23 at 10:00 AM

Where: City Hall Council Chambers (and via Zoom)

Testify: Click here to submit testimony, or register to testify virtually/in-person

As we know, PEP officers are not NYPD—they are uniformed Parks staff who play a vital role in keeping our parks safe, particularly through de-escalation and community engagement.

We invite coalition members to submit written testimony or testify in person or virtually to show strong support for PEP staffing.

See the talking points below and reach out if you’d like support drafting testimony or strategizing your message. And please let us know if you plan to participate! 

Talking Points: Oversight – Law Enforcement’s Role in Keeping City Parks Safe.

City Council Chambers – Monday June 23, 2025, 10:00 AM

• The best way to keep parks safe is by staffing them with NYC Parks workers and ensuring they are in a good state of repair, maintained, and monitored.
• NYC Parks has lost nearly 800 workers in the last three years, reducing the agency’s ability to do this important work.
• I stand with the Play Fair for Parks Coalition and urge the Mayor and City Council to allocate $79.7M in the FY26 budget to restore and strengthen NYC Parks’ workforce and programs, including funding for 60 Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) Officers.
• PEP Officers are a visible, uniformedpresence trained and equipped to address the range of potential safety issues in city parks. They offer first aid, provide crowd control, connect at-risk individuals with social services, and are authorized to issue summonses and arrests.
• PEP Officers are unionized, career civil servants. Expanding this workforce means more stable, middle-class jobs for New Yorkers, a stronger, more accountable city workforce, and a safer parkssystem.
• PEP Officers ensure fair and consistent enforcement of park rules, enhancing quality of life and public trust and preventing an environment ofdisorder.
• As the city invests in new and expanded parks and parks programs, it must also invest in the personnel who keep these spaces safe, usable, and thriving.

Thank you and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments.

Best,

Kathy Park Price (she/her)

Director, Advocacy & Policy

New Yorkers for Parks

Phone: 212-838-9410 (ext. 705)

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Free! Open to All!

The Remote Theater Project Presents:

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING ’25!  They have returned to Sara Roosevelt Park with funding from NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

With thanks to the NYC Parks Department.”Working with Chinese seniors at the Open Door Senior Center, new migrant families at the Hanbee Hotel, and with unhoused folks around the park, we have heard some incredible stories.

Join us FRIDAY, JUNE 20th, shows at 1pm and 3pm, for a memorable site-specific performance in “The Pit” at Broome St (between Forsyth and Chrystie Streets).”

Written by Carmen Rivera
Directed by Alexandra Aron

featured: Christopher Bisram, Darlenis Duran, Yike (Coco) Huang, Andy Law, Johnny Rivera

Thank you for Listening ’25’  builds on work that delved deeply into the stories of the people in our neighborhoods.

Ordinary and distinct real people surviving in a harsh place, often set against each other, yet still daring to make common cause in the midst of a splintering world.

Albert Schweitzer said, “Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown into a flame by another. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.”

We thank The Remote Theater Project for these brilliant sparks along our paths.

– K. Webster, President Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition

Absurd (see below DOT proposed months, days, hours):

July to December                Monday to Sunday                           5pm- 11pm

Fire hydrant on right appears to be blocked. School in background photo:Think!Chinatown

Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition

Opposing Open Streets application Forsyth from Canal to Hester Street From July 1 to December 1, 5pm-11pm – every day.

In Sara Roosevelt Park we have long fought to keep this park safe, beautiful, and activated for the people who live and work here, as well as for the larger public. For those with little or no agency we oppose actions that ignore their presence and common sense needs.

Probably the most compelling argument not to use this area as an “Open Street” was best made by a recent GQ article about “this slice of Chinatown” -the Canal/ Forsyth Street area.

“surveying the scene unfolding in front of him…looks downright Bourdainian.”

-GQ article

Not quite. Anthony Bourdain consistently “demonstrated a sincere interest in the cultures and people he encountered, fostering empathy and understanding.”  

Not this.

The article hypes a presumption that if you’ve never been somewhere, it’s a barren landscape – now ‘discovered’ – a blank pallet for the newcomer’s reinvention.

“this slice of Chinatown was simply where different creative scenes found common ground in heavily relaxed attitudes around drinking on public asphalt”. -GQ article

The neighborhood is proclaimed as an edgy scene with outlaw vibes:

Names are dropped, enticements for newcomers abound: “amazing”: a “hotspot”  “for the “loitering culture” …“the crowd is attractive” “sky-high summertime block party” “handsome Italian bartenders” “hangout for the city’s creative class” “I live mostly in LA” “Tesla..in the middle of the crowd” “a crowd of people wearing vintage designer outfits.” “This place is popping, and it’s a fucking Tuesday night.” “the concept of “seeing and being seen”. -GQ article

And it clarifies that this crowd functions with a different set of rules than ‘locals”:

“Legally speaking, the concert wasn’t associated with the bar,” Poe says with a grin. “But spiritually, it was.” -GQ article

Meanwhile…

This “open” area is used for parking for teachers in three schools at 100 Hester Street, (aka 36 Forsyth Street): Pace HS, Emma Lazarus HS, and MS 131:

It would be in the ‘backyard’ of this student body: Asian: 8% 45% 81%, Black 33% 10% 6%, Hispanic 51% 33% 11%, White 4% 9% 2%, ELL 2% 80% 33%, Special Needs 20% 0% 25%. These are all good schools, but they are working with tough odds.

This area is in an official NYC Environmental Justice Area.

The poverty rate in Lower East Side/Chinatown was 24.8% in 2023.

Most residents are renters.

As to this claim:

“Crucially, the nearest residential buildings are far enough away to avoid too many noise complaints” -GQ article

Apparently this isn’t true. “their sound radiates as far as Hester Street [a block away] and beyond.” (for more see https://www.neighborsoncanal.com/ )

In photos, the seating appears to block a fire hydrant.

Three schools with ELL, Special Needs, and a vast majority students targeted by racism, a troubled park full of volunteers struggling to keep it safe and beautiful, local arts organizations offering works that illuminate the area as well as feed the soul while offering local merchants a venue, a vegetable/fruit market, a Chinatown community of small businesses, working/middle class/poor residents and workers who are trying to stay afloat – vs a scene that is not for any of them.

Back to Bourdain: “If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel..Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them — wherever you go.”

Good advice for any of us seeking an interesting and respectful existence?

The people who live here, work here, go to school here, teach here, have to get up in the morning and go to work, school, or shop, or live, not glamorous, but important?

“We have nowhere else to go… this is all we have.”

With thanks,

K Webster

On behalf of The Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition

GC article “The Hottest Club In NYC Is a Parking Lot On Canal Street”

From: Alliance for Community Preservation and Betterment

Dear Community Board 3, Elected Officials, NYC Department of Transportation, and NYS License Authority:

My name is Susan Lee and am a community advocate working in Chinatown.

I am writing to express my strong opposition regarding the Full Closure Open Streets program application for Forsyth Street from Canal Street & Hester Street by the bar TIME AGAIN (under “Neighbors on Forsyth” and “Time Cafe LLC”). I am deeply concerned by a bar-ran Open Streets permit for a bar that operates from 5pm-2am on weekdays and 2pm-2am on weekends taking over the parking space that is used by teachers and staff of the school located at 100 Hester Street.  This is an unfair use of a public space for a private entity that promotes late night drinking and partying while providing ZERO public benefit to the community at large.

Loud amplified music outdoors coming from the TIME AGAIN bar can be clearly heard across the adjacent Sara D. Roosevelt Park all the way to Hester Street. This is in VIOLATION of  sound permit stipulations which state that sound permits should not be issued where a sound device  “will deprive the public of the right to the safe, comfortable, convenient and peaceful enjoyment of any public street, park or place for street, park or other public purposes.” The Lower East Side is designated as an official NYC Environmental Justice Area, meaning this neighborhood has experienced disproportionate negative impacts from environmental pollution due to historical and existing social inequities without equal protection and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. I fear that the constant noise pollution from a Full Closure Open Streets program operating daily between 5-11 pm from July 1-December 1, 2025 WILL ONLY WORSEN THESE SOCIAL INEQUITIES.  For the Open Streets program to truly center “public spaces for all”, DoT must create an equitable framework that includes the needs of the local residents, and most importantly, enforce these regulations.

In recent years, we’ve seen the PROLIFERATION of restaurants and bars that abuse the Open Streets program in Chinatown to occupy and aggressively privatize public space for public consumption of alcohol while alienating neighbors in this working class and immigrant community. Chinatown is a designated NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) where there is a high concentration of older residents who have chosen to remain in their homes rather than move into a retirement facility. We must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Seniors recreate at the Sara D. Roosevelt Park to connect with friends and neighbors.  The park is an extension of their homes. By granting a Full Closure Open Streets program that operates daily from 5pm-11pm from July 1 to December 1st, 2025 will deprive our seniors of a peaceful environment they deserve. To be clear, everyone is welcome to thrive in Chinatown BUT when it turns into a situation where operators are not acting in a neighborly manner, with trash overflows, human defecation, noise disturbances and overcrowding of streets and sidewalks, then they have worn out their welcome.

Susan Lee

Think!Chinatown

From Think!Chinatown

To the CB3, Elected Officials, and DoT:

I am writing on behalf of Think!Chinatown, a place-based intergenerational cultural non-profit organization, which is located at 1 Pike St, to express our strong opposition to the Full Closure Open Streets application submitted by Neighbors on Forsyth and Time Cafe LLC (dba TIME AGAIN), the bar located at 105 Canal. The application is for Forsyth Street from Canal to Hester Streets everyday from 5-11pm starting July 1 to December 1, 2025.

CONCERN ABOUT NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE ADJACENT PUBLIC PARK: TIME AGAIN bar is directly adjacent to Sara D. Roosevelt (SDR) Park and Pace High School, bringing up strong concerns about the application for a bar-ran Open Streets permit. With limited public space available in Chinatown, SDR Park is a well-used space for community members from day to night with regular gatherings by elders dancing, walking around the race track, young people playing games, and more. Because intergenerational living in small tenement units is very common in Chinatown, public “third spaces” are essential to the community. We’re greatly distressed by the prospect of a bar that operates from 5pm-2am on weekdays and 2pm-2am on weekends taking over the parking space of teachers and staff of Pace High School (and/or other community members) for late night drinking and partying.

We have witnessed loud amplified music outdoors coming from the TIME AGAIN bar which could be clearly heard across SDR Park all the way to Hester Street. This is not in accordance with  sound permit stipulations which state that sound permits should not be issued where a sound device  “will deprive the public of the right to the safe, comfortable, convenient and peaceful enjoyment of any public street, park or place for street, park or other public purposes.” 

Besides our own observations, the bar’s activities have also been described in the press. August 2024, a GQ article quoted TIME AGAIN co-owner Nicholas T. Poe as saying with a grin, “Legally speaking, [a concert that took place inside the bar] wasn’t associated with the bar, but spiritually, it was.” In another GQ article from October 2024, it’s described that “outside Time Again, the Dimes Square-adjacent bar that has spawned nightly neighborhood block parties all summer and into the fall.” 

A TRACK RECORD OF NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR: Last month in May 2025, there were 4 noise complaints to 311 for loud music/party, 2 of which were reported after midnight, to the bar’s location on 105 Canal. In 2024, there were 9 noise complaints to 311 for loud music/party. It’s alarming to see that the noise pollution on the site is worsening.

We have witnessed many accounts of patrons coming directly from the bar outdoor seating area to urinate on the doorsteps of local Chinatown businesses. We have also caught bar patrons stealing our stools which we use for the nearby Chinatown Night Market.

OBSTRUCTION OF FIRE HYDRANT: The many pieces of outdoor seating furniture put out by the bar would obstruct a firetruck’s access to the hydrant, putting the adjacent school and residential building at risk in the case of emergency.

[taken Tuesday 8pm, 6/3/2025]

MISUSE OF OPEN STREETS PROGRAM LEADS TO GENTRIFICATION: As a community group that produces cultural programs for public space activations, Think!Chinatown applauds the Open Street program’s mission to transform “streets to public space open to all.” However, we warn that a permit to the bar TIME AGAIN, which has shown no interest in serving our community, will actually turn outdoor spaces into places of exclusion and negatively impact existing vibrant open spaces — antithetical to Open Street’s mission. 

Over the past few years, we have witnessed the rapid gentrification of Chinatown and the pushing out of small Mom & Pop businesses for trendy bars and restaurants that come from the world of large hospitality groups. While we see the value in the Open Streets program as a whole, we have personally observed an abuse of the program in Chinatown by these private enterprises to privatize public space for their sole profit and subsequently accelerating gentrification in our neighborhood. For example, the existing Open Streets on Canal has negatively transformed our primarily low-income immigrant residential area with a sharp increase in unneighborly behaviors like public intoxication, public urination, major noise pollution, uncontrolled crowds and other issues enumerated here with written, photo and video testimonies.

WHO IS THIS OPEN STREETS PERMIT FOR?  Since there is no neighborhood or online presence of the “Neighbors on Forsyth” group, we ask the CB to inquire about the membership to better understand who these individuals are and what their connection is to the bar.

While the Open Streets program intends to transform “streets to public space open to all”, the aggressive privatization of public space and related disruptive behaviors have given the Chinatown community good reason to fear accelerating gentrification and displacement of longtime businesses and working class, immigrant families. A strong framework is needed by DoT to create a vibrant and equitable streetscape. Left unchecked, our public space is becoming privatized by profit maximizing large hospitality groups and restaurateurs at great cost to the local Chinatown community.

Yin Kong,

Executive Director, Think!Chinatown

1 Pike St, NYC 10002