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DATE

City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden
22 Reade Street
New York, NY 10007

FAX: 212-720-3219

aburden@planning.nyc.gov

I am gravely concerned about the growing impact of New York University’s continued expansion and its oversaturation of the neighborhoods in which it is located.  That is why I strongly support the recommendations of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and a coalition of groups that the City work to create one or more secondary campuses, so that if it does continue to expand, it does so OUTSIDE of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and Noho.

NYU has grown exponentially in recent years.  Its latest plan for a 26-story dorm, to be the tallest building in the East Village, is just another example of how the University is transforming this neighborhood, changing its character, and turning more and more of it into its unofficial campus.  This will only continue in the coming years if we do not do something about it.  NYU has built more than a dozen high-rise buildings in a relatively small area over the last twenty years; with each one, the rich diversity of this neighborhood is diminished. 

I do not believe that it is in the City’s best interest to allow NYU to simply continue to grow and grow in our neighborhood.  While many people in the Village, East Village, and Noho appreciate the value of having institutions of higher learning like NYU in their midst, most fear the balance is shifting and what was once an ingredient of these vital neighborhoods is becoming the defining or exclusive trait.  At the current rate, in the not-too-distant future little will be left of many parts of our once-thriving neighborhood other than the University and its related facilities.

If the City wants an institution as large as NYU to continue to grow, it cannot all be in one neighborhood.  And if NYU feels that it must keep its various facilities in close proximity to one another, then it must have other locations to build or expand its campus. 

There is a way to do this that satisfies the needs of the City, the University, and our neighborhood.  The City must help NYU find new places to locate and grow outside of the Village, East Village, and Noho.  As the City looks to redevelop new and old areas, there may be wonderful opportunities to site a new secondary campus for NYU that can be linked to the main campus by mass transit, allowing the university to grow WITHOUT further overburdening an already oversaturated neighborhood.  I think we would all agree that a university can be a wonderful element of a neighborhood; it is when it overwhelms all other aspects of the community that its presence becomes and detriment rather than an asset.

GVSHP and a broad coalition of groups are asking the City to work with them to help make this possible.  I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO WORK THE COMMUNITY TO DO THIS, AND ENSURE THE CONTINUED SURVIVAL OF THE VILLAGE, THE EAST VILLAGE, AND NOHO AS THE WONDERFUL NEIGHBORHOODS WE KNOW.

Sincerely,

Name

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Address

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Please send copies of all letters to GVSHP

232 East 11th Street, NY NY 10003

or (fax) 212/475-9582

or e-mail: gvshp@gvshp.org

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DATE

Mayor Michael Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

FAX: 212/788-8123

To e-mail, go to www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html