In an attempt to thwart impending eviction, Elizabeth Street Garden is suing New York City, arguing that the Manhattan sculpture garden should be allowed to stay put under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA). The Elizabeth Street Garden, a neoclassical sculpture garden and green space managed by its namesake nonprofit, was served an eviction notice last October as part of a city plan to develop an affordable housing complex for low-income and LGBTQ+ seniors on the plot. The garden secured a temporary stay of eviction last fall, delaying further legal action until this month. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, February 18 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, lawyers for Elizabeth Street Garden’s Executive Director Joseph Reiver argued that the sculpture garden is a “single unified sculptural work of visual art.” Under VARA, which grants creators of public artworks the right to “claim authorship” over those works and prevent their destruction or modification, the garden’s lawyers claim that the space is protected. Elizabeth Street Garden has hosted free events open to the public, including poetry readings and live music. (image courtesy Liz Radway)Attorney Steve Hyman told Hyperallergic that Elizabeth Street Garden’s neoclassical design “is further enhanced by human activity, making it a unique social sculpture that warrants protection under [VARA].”Reiver’s lawyers argued in Tuesday’s complaint that the garden was a work of art collaboratively authored by Joseph Reiver and his father Allan, who arranged statues in a specific way, planted trees according to the garden’s neoclassical design, constructed pathways and gates, and curated the flowers that grow there.Last spring, a federal judge in Iowa prevented the Des Moines Art Center (DMAC)from demolishing a land art installation by artist Mary Miss under VARA until the case was settled for nearly $1 million last month. Reiver declined to comment on the pending litigation. Elizabeth Street Garden’s October eviction notice followed more than a decade of disputes with the New York City Housing Authority. Because the plot had once supported a public school, the city retained ownership of the land, renting it out to the late gallerist Allan Reiver, father of Joseph Reiver, as part of a 1990 month-to-month lease agreement.A City Hall spokesperson told Hyperallergic that the lawsuit was “a gross attempt to mislead the public and steal public land.”“Haven Green will provide 100 percent deeply affordable senior housing in a neighborhood with limited affordable options,” the spokesperson continued, referencing the proposed housing complex, “while also offering over 15,000 square feet of public space, including a garden and public art.” Reiver’s lawyers argue the neoclassical design of the garden makes it a work of art.The garden’s escalating attempts to stay put coincides with a growing senior housing crisis in New York City. According to a report by the nonprofit LiveOn NY released last July, more than 300,000 seniors are on the waiting list for affordable housing, marking a 50% increase since 2016. But Reiver told Hyperallergic in October that the city’s plan was pitting green space against affordable housing in what he called a “false choice.”“I’ve been working day in and day out to get affordable housing in this neighborhood, just not at the expense of this [garden],” Reiver said. Reiver has proposed that the city redistribute the housing funds destined for the Elizabeth Street Garden plot to other sites slated for luxury housing development. The garden has identified alternative sites they said could create 705 units of affordable housing, as opposed to Haven Green’s 123 units, and leave the garden in place. If the city succeeds in taking over the garden, the lawyers wrote, the action would be “prejudicial to the honor” of Joseph Reiver. Though Allan Reiver had no formal artistic training, the lawsuit said, he was a self-taught artist who created a legitimate work of Outsider art. Before he intervened, the complaint reads, the lot was a “junkyard,” which lawyers compared to a blank canvas.Charles Birnbaum, president and CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, a nonprofit that supports landscape heritage stewards, told Hyperallergic his organization first recommended Elizabeth Street Garden seek VARA protection in 2019. “It’s a very important work of Outsider art,” Birnbaum said. “There’s nothing like this … It is a destination, and it is an artistic expression that is unlike anything else in New York City and beyond.”