In August, GVSHP exposed that, hidden behind construction fences, NYU had begun to demolish the walls of the historic Provincetown Playhouse theater which it had promised to preserve as part of its new Law School development (GVSHP did not support the NYU plan which included demolition of 94% of the historic building, but acknowledged that preserving the walls of the theater was an improvement over the original plan to demolish virtually the entire building). More recently, however, GVSHP discovered that the extent of NYU's destruction of the walls of the Playhouse was even greater than we had previously believed, as the university demolished much of the remaining historic section of the freestanding north wall.
The university’s failure to keep its promise, which was the premise upon which some supported its plan, has sparked a firestorm of criticism (READ MORE). While the university has attempted to explain this as a mere gap in communication, it raises basic questions about NYU’s original intentions and its commitment to maintaining its promises, which it has a decades-long track record of not doing.
In the coming months, the university is supposed to finalize its “NYU 2031 Plan,” a roadmap for its expansion over the next 22 years. NYU is currently forecasting doubling its rate of growth in and around the Village during that time period. GVSHP and allied community groups have made a priority of calling for the university to maintain promises to find alternative locations for its future growth and to prioritize re-using existing buildings rather than demolishing them, which the current situation highlights the desperate need for.
In August,