Public Hearing on NYU Expansion Plan Monday, 4/19 at 6:30 PM
There will be a Community Board #2 public hearing on NYU’s 2031 Expansion Plan this coming Monday, April 19th at 6:30 pm at PS 41, 116 West 11th Street (6th/7th Avenues). NYU will present their plan and the public will have an opportunity to comment or ask questions. Given how big an impact NYU’s planned expansion will have on our neighborhoods for years to come, it is critical that you attend, learn more, and provide your feedback. As many of the projects NYU is proposing require public approvals by elected and appointed officials, and will require advisory votes by the Community Board, it is particularly important that you participate in the process and let your thoughts and concerns be known at this forum.
On Wednesday, NYU held a public Open House on its 2031 Plan. Several hundred neighborhood residents showed up, many wearing stickers to express their concerns about aspects of the plan. Prior to the start of the Open House, GVSHP and a dozen other local community groups held a press conference to respond to the plan, especially those aspects which are at odds with the recommendations of a Task Force of community groups, convened by Borough President Stringer, who have been meeting with NYU for three years and formulated recommendations for NYU’s planning. Those recommendations included urging the university to look FIRST to satellite campus locations to accommodate new growth, reducing the amount of space to be added to the already saturated Village and surrounding areas from the projected 3 million square feet, and respecting the low scale and historic character of our neighborhoods, especially landmarked areas. CLICK HERE for pictures of the press conference and Open House, and see coverage in the New York Times, NY1 News, The Observer, Curbed, and the Washington Square News.
While the plan does include siting some new facilities outside of the Village and environs, as GVSHP and community groups have been calling on the university to do for many years, the plan also still calls for adding 3 million square feet of space in the neighborhood over the next twenty years — double NYU’s current rate of growth. The plan also fails to take advantage of additional opportunities for placing facilities outside of the Village and environs, such as stalled development sites throughout the city and satellite campus locations, especially in the Financial District, where local community leaders have actually been seeking NYU to locate. Additionally, the plan provides little or no detail on 1 to 1.5 million square feet of space the university plans to add or acquire in the Village and environs outside of the Washington Square Park “core” over the next twenty years.
This is the beginning of what promises to be a long process which will shape NYU’s plans and how they will affect our neighborhoods. We hope you will participate fully, and encourage your friends, neighbors, and family to do the same.
For more information on NYU’s plans, CLICK HERE, or do not hesitate to contact GVSHP directly.
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