Elizabeth Street
Garden rings
in the Winter
Solstice
The Winter Solstice Celebration was a much needed respite
for attendees.
BY DEAN MOSES
The residents of Little Italy/
SoHo constructed their
own winter wonderland to
literally ring in the holiday season.
The Elizabeth Street Garden located
between Prince and Spring
Streets hosted their annual Winter
Solstice Celebration on Dec. 20
and it certainly looked the part.
Carpeted by a blanket of snow,
the statues throughout the beloved
plot of land had been enveloped
with golden fairy lights, creating
a picturesque, almost ethereal setting.
Set up entirely by volunteers,
these impressive visuals served
merely as the backdrop for what
the yearly event represented.
Attendees fi led into the garden
at 6 p.m., where they were handed
multicolored bells, each hue representing
a different note. In years
past a conductor would call for a
particular color to be rung which
would, in turn, create a musical
number to commemorate the holiday.
However, this year–like most
things in 2020–the event had to
be altered in order to comply
with social distancing measures.
In place of creating a chime
symphony, celebrants took their
bells in hand and simply shook
out the frustrations of the last 12
months with a three-minute-long
cacophony of jingles and clangs,
which resonated from the Garden
at just after 6:30 p.m.
Natasha Wozniak and Catherine Nguyen ring their bells beside a statue wrapped in lights.
Joseph Reiver, Elizabeth Street
Garden Executive Director was
pleasantly surprised about the
turnout, which signaled to him
the need for events like these during
Volunteers adorned the various statues and columns within
Elizabeth Street Garden with lights for the celebration.
this time, and the importance
of the Elizabeth Street Garden in
general. Reiver has been working
to keep the site open long before
the pandemic began its hit list of
closures. For the past two years, the
Elizabeth Street Garden has been
engaged in a legal battle with the
City of New York and the Department
of Housing Preservation and
Development to stop them from
destroying the site by developing
housing on its grounds.
“We are excited to hear back
from the judge. So, let’s take this
moment to celebrate,” Reiver said
happily as he asked everyone to
join him in ringing their bells
in celebration of the garden and
reining in the Winter Solstice.
With the help of their attorney,
Norman Siegel, Elizabeth Street
Garden has been able to remain
an open green space for the community.
Many of the attendees
are pleased that the garden has
remained open throughout the
pandemic since it has created an
option to interact while practicing
social distancing.
PHOTOS BY DEAN MOSES
Participants were asked to bring their own bells or they could
borrow one from the Elizabeth Street Garden’s volunteers.
Catherine Nguyen, a local resident
is a strong advocate for the
safety and tranquility the garden
provides. She recalls attending
the fi rst public hearing back in
2019 when it was initially announced
that developers planned
to create an area to provide affordable
housing and green space;
but frequent visitors like Nguyen
argue that eliminating Elizabeth
Street Garden is detrimental to
the community since it will end
free programing, public access
to diverse green space, cultural
interaction, and more.
“Especially during a pandemic,
people are realizing you can develop
housing somewhere else
because people need parks as a
space to just breathe and relax
in the city,” said Nguyen, who
hopes that the latest court hearing
will be a turning point for the
garden. “This is for people who
want to commune with nature.
It’s so important in an area that
is so congested and overtaken by
tourists.”
Both Reiver, volunteers, and
community members hope that
the Elizabeth Street Garden will
be around for many more years
and many more Winter Solstice
celebrations.
Irenka Jakubiak and Maria Giorgio excitedly rang their bells in
celebrations of the Winter Solstice.
Schneps Media December 24, 2020 11