Candidate Name: David Siffert

Office Campaigning for: NYS Assembly 66

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?

No

PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ABOVE

No. I love Elizabeth Street Garden, and I will fight tooth-and-nail so that it can continue as it is. The garden is a magical place, the type of place that makes NYC great, and I will fight to preserve it in perpetuity, so I can continue to visit the garden with my family as my toddler grows up. I would never vote to remove the parkland designation, and would actively whip votes in the assembly to protect ESG’s parkland status – which hopefully disincentivizes NYC from messing with the garden, since they won’t get anything out of it if I have anything to say about it.

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?

Yes

PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ABOVE

Yes. I support the plan, and I am excited for hundreds of new affordable housing units being built in the neighborhood while also protecting ESG. There is still some diligence to do in terms of implementation of the plan. I want to make sure that the developers don’t sneak in any loopholes. We must make sure that the affordability is actually permanent, for example. As a lawyer who has witnessed developers wriggle out of commitments before, I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. There are also details to be ironed out. We need to make sure building this development doesn’t result in demolition of the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center and alienation of that parkland. Both the Dapolito and ESG parklands must be preserved. We also want to make sure the architectural design is as good as it can be while still supplying the promised units of housing. But, at the end of the day, my priority is saving Elizabeth Street Garden while building permanent, accessible, deeply affordable housing. That’s what’s being proposed in this plan, and that’s what I will fight for.

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.?*

Yes