After a more than decade-long battle, the fate of Little Italy’s Elizabeth Street Garden seems all but sealed thanks to a looming eviction notice from the city — but the garden’s faithful backers are still hoping to find an eleventh-hour solution to stave off its redevelopment. The eclectic, statue-filled lot is technically owned by the city but has been leased out on a monthly basis since the 1990s. A 123-unit affordable senior housing project dubbed “Haven Green” planned for the site has been held up for years by legal challenges from the garden and its supporters. Elizabeth Street Garden features an eclectic mix of statues and monuments amid its lush greenery. (Barry Williams for NYDN) A two-week eviction notice issued by the city on Oct. 2 seemingly cemented the garden’s demise after various legal campaigns failed, and the eviction could be carried out as early as Thursday. The campaign to preserve the garden has turned it into a flashpoint within New York’s larger housing crisis, with the 20,000-square-foot green space between Mott and Elizabeth Sts. serving as a battleground for issues like gentrification, NIMBYism and the environment. The city sees Haven Green as a rare opportunity to build badly needed affordable housing on city-owned land in an area where senior residents are rapidly being priced out. Proponents of the plan point out the development will include some public green space. A rendering of the 123-unit affordable apartment complex geared toward LGBTQ seniors dubbed Haven Green. (Image courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, LLP) But Joseph Reiver, the executive director of the nonprofit Elizabeth Street Garden and son of its late founder, Allan, said he is determined to fight until the very end to save it. His efforts have attracted big-name supporters, including Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Patti Smith, and thousands of online campaigners who want to see the unique space preserved, particularly for environmental reasons. A rendering of the Haven Green housing project, which would also include some green space. (Image courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, LLP) “The biggest misconception is that we’re against building affordable housing in this district. It’s vicious the way [opponents] have pushed that narrative,” Reiver said. “We’re about finding affordable housing in this district, just not at the expense of green space and Elizabeth Street Garden.” To that end, he and supporters have touted alternative publicly owned sites nearby that could potentially be developed instead of the garden. Now, he’s hoping the Adams administration will also consider two vacant, privately owned properties he has recently identified nearby. Reiver said the developers are amenable to building affordable housing and could each provide the same number of units as Haven Green. “It’s not finalized because we need the city to greenlight it, we need the city to work with us,” he said. Councilmember Christopher Marte, who represents the area, has been collaborating with Reiver and said the local developers want to see the garden saved. “We have a deal on the table that the city can’t get otherwise,” he told The News. “We get the affordable units that we need to save the precious green space and we get to build affordable housing on sites that the city doesn’t have control over. “If the city is really committed to solving this housing crisis and building affordable units, this is the plan they have to take,” he said. “The clock is ticking.” But the administration reiterated its determination to move forward with Haven Green, and officials said they don’t see the situation as a matter of either/or. “As the mayor has said on multiple occasions, even if alternative sites are viable to build housing, the city is still moving forward with its plans to build affordable senior housing and new green space on the city-owned Elizabeth Street site,” City Hall spokesman William Fowler said in a statement. “This administration is going to build housing everywhere,” said Ilana Maier, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which is spearheading Haven Green. “It’s not a choice between this site or that site, this borough or that borough — we need more housing everywhere.” Reiver said he is still considering other legal avenues to avert the eviction, and that some supporters have brought up the possibility of protesting if it moves ahead. (Former mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, for one, said he’s willing to get arrested to save the garden.) On Friday the grounds of the Elizabeth Street Garden were brimming with New Yorkers enjoying the sunny autumn day. Elizabeth Street Garden is facing a looming eviction order. (Barry Williams for NYDN) In one corner sat 19-year-old students Alia Attar and Micah Sagar, who were doing watercolor painting together. The two are frequent visitors and made a point of stopping by the garden one last time before its impending eviction. “It’s very whimsical, you can really feel the community,” said Attar. “A lot of people care about it and I think that culture of care is something that kind of is missing from a lot of spaces in our world, especially in New York City.” Sagar has volunteered at the garden and followed the court cases carefully. She studies architecture and urban design and said the debate around the Elizabeth Street Garden interested her on a conceptual level. “Green space is so important in urban spaces, but [so is] affordable housing,” she said. “How are we supposed to prioritize one over the other?” Patricia Simpson, 65, called the potential loss of the garden “heartbreaking.” She works as a nurse and lives in Midtown but visits the beloved urban oasis frequently. “I’m praying and I’m hoping,” she said, “that we don’t lose this wonderful wonderland.”