NYU Community Task Force ‘Suspended’
 Earlier this week, over the objections of GVSHP and many community groups and leaders, the Community Task Force on NYU Development convened by Borough President Stringer was abruptly suspended. This group spent over four years meeting with NYU and pushing the university to consider options outside of the Village and surrounding area to accommodate its growth (such as the Financial District, where community leaders have indicated they would like NYU to locate) and argued against NYU continuing to oversaturate the Village with large new facilities (read its recommendations HERE). GVSHP and a dozen other members of the Task Force wrote to Borough President Stringer, local elected officials, and the Chair of Community Board #2 urging that they reconsider the decision to suspend the Task Force, arguing that in light of NYU’s massive 20 year expansion plan and unwillingness to consider other options, the Task Force is needed now more than ever (see letter HERE). Read the editorial in the Villager newspaper also calling for the suspension of the Task Force to be reconsidered.
Some but not all of NYU’s massive 20 year expansion plans must still go through a very long and elaborate public review and approval process, which will include hearings and votes by Community Boards, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Borough President, the City Planning Commission, and the City Council. GVSHP has worked to educate the public about this process and how they can be involved, and will continue to do so regardless of the fate of the Task Force. The first official step in this process will likely be an application by NYU to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to construct a 40-story hotel and residential tower (the tallest ever in the Village) on Bleecker Street in the Silver Towers complex. That is expected in the fall, and GVSHP will notify you when that is scheduled and how you can be involved.
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