Candidate Name: Dan Goldman

Office Campaigning for: Congressional District 10

Have you ever visited Elizabeth Street Garden?

Yes

Elizabeth Street Garden has now officially been transferred to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Under the public Trust Doctrine, land formally dedicated as parkland cannot be sold, leased, or used for non-park purposes without legislative authorization. If elected, would you vote to remove Elizabeth Street Garden as parkland if that vote took place?

Other

Please Explain your answer to the question above

I’m a member of Congress so I have no jurisdiction over parkland alienation. We need to dramatically increase affordable housing supply across our city and our country. That’s why, as Task Force Chair for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Vision Plan, I supported the construction of 6,000 units of housing in Brooklyn, including 2,400 permanently affordable homes, and I also have been leading efforts to develop 1,200 units at 5 World Trade Center at 35% deeply affordable. On the national level, I helped pass reforms to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to incentivize the construction of new affordable homes everywhere, and I continue to push for a robustly pro-housing agenda in Washington. Notwithstanding my strong desire to build as much housing as possible (especially affordable housing) to help lower rents in the city, the Elizabeth Street Garden is a widely-used and unique community gem that should remain green space accessible to the community.

The plan that saves Elizabeth Street Garden will deliver 10x the originally proposed affordable housing, along with hundreds of additional housing units. In addition to far more units, the alternative site plan ensures that the affordability will be permanent, unlike the development that would've destroyed the Garden. Do you pledge your support for this plan?

Other

Please Explain your answer to the question above

I am not familiar enough with the specifics of the plan to commit support. My position as an advocate for this community is that we desperately need tens of thousands of new units of housing. No parcel of land in the city should be completely off the table for consideration, but the Elizabeth Street Garden is a unique and beloved community gem that would be tragic to lose.

If elected, do you pledge your support to ensure that Elizabeth Street Garden remains preserved in perpetuity and continues to be operated by Elizabeth Street Garden, Inc.?

Other

Please Explain your answer to the question above

As a member of Congress, I pledge to balance the broad needs of my constituents, which includes more housing — especially for LGBTQ seniors — and the preservation of unique and irreplaceable green space, such as the Elizabeth Street Garden. At this time, I believe other sites should be exhausted for new housing construction and the Garden should remain green space for the community.