On the Lower East Side, the Children's Magical Garden is celebrating a new chapter after developer calls off legal battle

Image via @childrensmagicalgarden 

After a decade-long legal battle, the Children's Magical Garden on the Lower East Side is no longer threatened by development on part of its space at 157 Norfolk St. at Stanton Street.

The Real Deal first reported on this agreement between the garden and developer David Marom: 

Marom, who helms the Horizon Group, agreed to donate the lot ... to the Children's Magical Garden in honor of his mother. As a result, three separate lawsuits between the parties are being called off. 

For more than 40 years, the Children's Magical Garden has occupied the corner space off Stanton Street, using the land to grow produce and host local community events. But Marom's purchase of a portion of the garden from Serge Hoyda for $3.3 million threatened the future of the space, as the developer moved to build a seven-story residence. 

And today at 2 p.m., the garden is hosting an event to celebrate the moment. Per an Instagram post: 

Big NEWS! We did it! The children of LES are getting their community garden back, PERMANENTLY! After 10 years of litigation and many more of advocacy, we've come together with the developer who is donating the land. So many amazing community members, lawyers, neighbors, and gardeners helped make this possible. We are truly grateful. Thank you. Please come on March 10, 2 p.m., and help us start our new chapter. 

They are raising funds to help rebuild and "serve the children and their children to come!" 

This link has some of our coverage of the story.

Report: Children’s Magical Garden suing developers to regain LES land

[Photo from May via MoRUS]

The battle for the Children's Magical Garden continues.

Yesterday, Garden members filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court asking to be declared owners of the lot at 157 Norfolk St. at Stanton Street, according to Serena Solomon at DNAinfo.

Local residents established the garden back in 1983.

Per DNAinfo:

Garden members claim in the lawsuit that the New York State law of "adverse possession" makes them the rightful owners of the lot. Under the law, someone has the right to ownership if they have occupied a property for at least a 10-year period.

"We love the whole garden," said the garden's director Kate Temple-West. "We have been actively supporting the earth here for more than 30 years, for a very, very long time."

This story got particularly ugly back in May. Citing security and safety concerns, workers erected a fence on part of the property that developer Serge Hoyda owned, much to the dismay of residents, community activists and local poltiticians, who wanted to maintain the entire space as a community garden.

In late June, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development transferred ownership of the remaining section of the garden to the Parks Department to protect the parcel as park space. (Read more about this at DNAinfo.)

Earlier this year, Hoyda sold his parcel to a real-estate group, who want to build a six-story, six-unit residential building. According to the proposed work plans, the new building will measure 7,242 square feet and include a gym and a penthouse. The city disapproved the first round of plans last Wednesday.

Garden members are suing both Hoyda and the new owners, the Yonkers-based Horizon Group. Read a PDF of the complaint here.

Garden members are holding a press conference at the site this morning at 7:15.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: Children’s Magical Garden under siege on the Lower East Side

Plans for luxury housing with a gym and penthouse filed for part of the Children’s Magical Garden

[Photo from May via MoRUS]

Developer Serge Hoyda has filed plans for a six-story, six-unit residential building on part of the Children’s Magical Garden on Norfolk and Stanton streets, according to a report today at BuzzBuzzHome.

Citing security and safety concerns, workers erected a fence on part of the property in May that Hoyda owns, much to the dismay of residents, community activists and local poltiticians, who wanted to maintain the entire space as a community garden.

In late June, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development transferred ownership of the remaining sections of the garden to the Parks Department to protect the parcel as park space. (Read more about this at DNAinfo.)

Per DNAinfo from June 27: Community gardeners hoped "to convince Hoyda to give up his part of the lot or participate in a land swap in which the city would give Hoyda another block of land in exchange for the full Children's Magical Garden."

According to the proposed work plans, the new building will measure 7,242 square feet and include a gym and a penthouse.

Hoyda purchased the lot in 2003.

H/T Curbed. Find more background on the Children's Magical Garden at the Lo-Down and BoweryBoogie.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: Children’s Magical Garden under siege on the Lower East Side

Petition launched to 'Help Save the Children’s Magical Garden from Development'

Supporters of the Children’s Magical Garden on Stanton and Norfolk have launched an online petition. It reads in part:

Children's Magical Garden, a community garden in the Lower East Side, where magic has been happening for the past 30 years, has been torn in two. The property is half owned by NYC, and half owned by a developer.

On Wednesday, May 15th, the developer broke through the garden fence, dug through the center and fenced off their part of the garden. The community is understandably devastated.

But the gardeners are seeking a win-win solution: a land swap to give the developer another city owned property. The developer is open to that.

Your part can make all the difference. Please 1) sign the petition and 2) help us by calling 311 (or 212-788-3000 for out of towners) and offering the solution above.

This will make the the whole community garden permanent and back in the arms of her magical children in the Lower East Side.

Find the petition here. Meanwhile, The Lo-Down has the latest developments about the site here. Find our photos and video from Wednesday here.

[Image via the Children's Magical Garden Facebook page]

Cement and 'peaceful support' today at the Children's Magical Garden

[Nicole Turcotte]

A reader sent us the following email this morning about the Children's Magical Garden, the scene of a showdown yesterday between a developer and residents:

"The developer's workers showed up with a truck full of cement and began cementing the fence in place despite promises yesterday that they would not do so."

The Lo-Down has a photo and more about this here.

Meanwhile, this afternoon from 2-4, residents will be gathering for "peaceful support" and banner making at the longtime garden on Stanton and Norfolk.

This story is receiving a lot of media attention. Aside from the outlets that we linked to yesterday, find more articles at:

Runnin' Scared

The New York Times

The Villager

DNAinfo

WNBC 4

NY1

Updated: Children’s Magical Garden under siege on the Lower East Side

The Children’s Magical Garden on Stanton and Norfolk is the scene of high drama this morning... workers are there to erect a fence ahead of developer Serge Hoyda's plan to build on a portion of the property... a handful of community activists are on the scene ... as well as city officials, the NYPD, workers and reporters...



We're sorting it all out now...

Read more about the background here at BoweryBoogie ... and The Lo-Down.

Updated 11:25

Police have cordoned off the area for the workers to put up the fence... there have been several confrontations between community members and a rep for the developer...







Community members and the developer's attorney...



... and a budding community activist...



Updated 12:30

According people on the scene, workers there to erect the fence are removing plants, etc. ...


[Nicole Turcotte]


[NT]


[NT]

Updated 1:03

Workers have finished erecting the fence around the portion of the land that Hoyda owns...


[NT]

The Lo-Down just filed a report from the scene that provides a lot more of the background information on this long-standing battle for the garden.

Updated 4:30

Gothamist has a story here. They note that Councilwoman Margaret Chin's office has called for the removal of the fence. Her statement:

The Children's Magical Garden is a community treasure, and we want to keep it in the neighborhood. We understand that the developer has a permit to build the fence; however, such sudden action is not the best solution and nor the act of a good neighbor, especially since there have been active, ongoing conversations to come to an equitable agreement. We asked the developer not to put up this fence, and now we ask them to take it down.

The garden has been here since 1982.

Updated 5:16

The Daily News checks in with a piece on today's development.

“We had no idea this was coming,” said Kate Temple-West, president of the Children’s Magical Garden board.

[First video on post via Nicole Turcotte, volunteer from MoRUS. Photos and video via MoRUS]