DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A nonprofit's court challenge to the sale of a treasured neighborhood community garden is "a sham and an attempted money grab," lawyers for the developer who now owns the property claim.
Lawyers for Eldert Bushwick House LLC, the company that currently holds the deed to the land where the Eldert Street Community Garden has taken root at 315 Eldert St., are asking a judge to dismiss a pending lawsuit against them, in papers filed on Oct. 14.
Alianza de Damas Unidas, a nonprofit that owned the land up until 2014, sued for the property claiming it was sold by Elba Roman without permission of the board and who didn't seek approval of the full board. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office oversees nonprofit activities, didn't approve the sale, the group said in court documents.
But more than two years after the sale of the property and Schneiderman still hasn't challenged it, despite a probe from their office that began in April 2015, the developer's lawyers argue in court documents.
They also claim that they didn't need the AG's approval in he first place, court records show.
Schneiderman's office didn't return a request for comment.
Both sides will now plea their case Jan. 11, 2017, where a judge will decide whether or not the suit it will move forward.
Meanwhile, at a court appearance Wednesday, about a dozen members of the community garden turned out to show Judge Richard Velasquez, who's presiding over the civil case in Brooklyn Supreme Court, that they support the garden.
"The garden has actual people behind it," said Bram Kincheloe, 30, who's been helping out at the there for seven years. "It was an abandoned lot [seven] years ago but now it's a vibrant part of the community."
They've hosted weddings, birthday parties, Dungeons & Dragons gatherings and open it up as place for kids who live on the block to learn to care for plants and dig in the dirt.
"There's things that you couldn't as easily organize in a neighborhood park," said Alex Ledford, 35, who began volunteering at the garden six years ago when he moved to the area. "Mostly I just go to say hi to my friends, have lunch."
