Please sign and send the below letter to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation at:
gvshp@gvshp.org
or fax (212) 475-9582
or mail 232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
GVSHP will deliver the letter to all the intended recipients for you.
DATE
Hon. Michael Bloomberg, Mayor
Hon. Christine Quinn, Speaker
Hon. Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President
Hon. Jerrold Nadler, Congressman
Hon. Tom Duane, State Senator
Hon. Daniel Squadron, State Senator
Hon. Rosie Mendez, City Councilmember
Hon. Margaret Chin, City Councilmember
Hon. Deborah Glick, Assemblymember
Hon. Brian Kavanagh, Assemblymember
John Sexton, President, NYU
Members of the Community Task Force on NYU Development
Re: NYU 2031 Plan
Dear Sirs and Madams:
Especially in light of NYU’s recent failure to maintain its commitment to preserve the historic shell of the Provincetown Playhouse theater, I write to express my strong concerns about NYU’s 2031 Plan. I believe that any plan involving NYU expanding by millions of square feet in our neighborhood (much less the 3-3.6 million they are currently proposing) is not a good plan. I strongly urge you to support alternatives.
NYU’s growth has dramatically transformed our neighborhoods over the last 20 years, and the overall effect has not been good. The current 2031 plan would have NYU not only further expand in our neighborhoods, but actually double its rate of growth. That is unacceptable.
NYU should be focusing instead on better utilization of its existing space and finding satellite locations if it is to expand. It should respect the character, scale, and history of our neighborhoods, not demolish existing buildings and not build massive new ones. As the planning principles it agreed to says, NYU should “prioritize…re-use before new development [and] identifying opportunities to decentralize facilities.”
Even if NYU’s rate of growth were to remain the same as it has been over the last several years, it would inalterably transform the character of our neighborhoods. If the rate of growth were to double, as the 2031 plan currently projects, it would destroy it. We should be focusing on keeping NYU within its current footprint and envelope, rather than expanding.
NYU and all our institutions of higher learning are a welcome and vital ingredient in our neighborhoods. But they should be just an ingredient, and not the overwhelming presence. NYU’s continued growth threatens to make the university an overwhelming presence in our neighborhoods.
I hope you will work towards ending NYU’s massive growth in our neighborhoods, and instead support finding alternative means and locations for the university’s growth.
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Sincerely,
NAME
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