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NYU ‘Spiritual Center’ Plans To Be Presented and Voted On, 9/29 and 10/8 NYU will be presenting an updated version of its plans for a new “Spiritual Center” at 58 Washington Square South (at Thompson and West 3rd Streets) to Community Board 2’s Institutions Committee on Sept. 29 and to its Zoning Committee on October 8 (time and location TBA). The building would be constructed on the site of the former NYU Catholic Center, and would be highly visible through Washington Square Arch. NYU presented its first version of the plans in June; some elements of the design have been changed since then, and some additional details not previously shown will be provided. GVSHP responded to the initial NYU presentation in June, raising issues with the design and its relation to the Arch, Judson Memorial Church, and Thompson and West 3rd Streets. More broadly, GVSHP also raised objections to NYU continuing to move ahead with yet another new developments in our neighborhood when they committed through the ‘Planning Principles’ they agreed to in early 2008 to prioritizing finding remote locations for new facilities rather than continuing to concentrate them in and around the Village (Community Board #2 has said that the development is appropriate for this location). While NYU does not need approval for the design of the new structure, they do need a zoning variance to allow them to build a squatter building without setbacks; the Institutions Committee will vote on the appropriateness of the new project in terms of the ‘Planning Principles’ to which NYU agreed and the aesthetics of the design, while the Zoning Committee will vote on the zoning variance NYU is seeking. HOW TO HELP: Come to the CB 2 Institutions Committee Meeting next Tues., Sept. 29 at 6:30 pm at 75 Morton Street (at Greenwich Street) and tell CB 2 that NYU must honor its commitment to seek remote locations for new facilities, which it has not done, and voice your opinions about the Spiritual Center design. Send a letter to the Borough President’s NYU Task Force demanding that NYU keep its commitments to seek locations outside the Village for new facilities and that it prioritize re-use of existing buildings over demolition and new development > > Previous: 07/09/09

Home : Preservation : NYU : Latest News : 09/25/09