TODAY: Selling and Giving Away NYC Parks on WNYC

Don't miss the "Selling and Giving Away NYC Parks" on today's Leonard Lopate Show.  Leonard's guest is Jim Walden, an attorney with Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.

The practice of selling, or even giving away, public parkland and historic sites to private developers has become a disturbing trend in recent years. Attorney Jim Walden has taken several of these cases to court, including one involving Brooklyn Bridge Park, as well as the current case of the New York University expansion taking over public open space. He'll look at what the law says, and what can be done to protect these public spaces.

If you can't listen live, catch it later as a podcast.  Here's the link: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/apr/23/selling-and-giving-away-nyc-parks/.

Guest Post: Trees and Skyline to be Replaced by a Skyscraper Building

Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village, April 19, 2012 by Hubert J Steed (source)

The NYC/NYU2031 expansion plans call for the construction of several new skyscrapers in the heart of historic Greenwich Village which will be built on this garden, bordering park strips, the comprehensive children's playgrounds, and on a "super block" south of WSV which will destroy a treasured community garden at LaGuardia Place Corner Garden.

Protests and legal appeals are being made to stop the destruction of these community and NYC necessities & amenities for the planned skyscrapers.

Virtually all of these trees and gardens will be destroyed in the near future, if our courts of law allow the NYC/NYU2031 Plan to proceed.

Please run the slideshow button on the upper right corner of http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/photo_shoot_120419 to see conveniently what is planned to be destroyed. If you run the slideshow with a soundtrack of "Where have all the flowers gone?" it might break your heart.

Click http://savewsvsasakigarden.blogspot.com/p/resources.html for more information and photos of Washington Square Village Sasaki Garden.

Also click http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/laguardia_place_community_garden for more photos of LaGuardia Corner Garden.

And http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/nyu_athletic_center_mercer for gardens around the NYU Athletic Center.

Click http://nyufasp.com/nyu-departmental-resolutions/ for NYU Faculty resolutions against the NYU2031 plan.

A video on this is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgBKhRGkLU0&feature=youtu.be.
 
Also see http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/nyu_main.htm for more information.

Author note: Hubert J. Steed is a longtime resident and photographer of NYC.  His extensive galleries can be viewed at http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed.

NYU 2031: The Architects and Landscape Architect of Record

NYU Local takes a look at the architects and landscape architect of record for the NYU 2031 plan.

Toshiko Mori Architect, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, and Grimshaw Architects are the three firms that are spearheading the design side of the proposed 2.5 million square foot expansion–their designs are truly beautiful albeit controversial.

Read the entire NYU Local article at Meet The Architects Behind NYU 2031.

Learn more about the firms on their websites:

• Toshiko Mori Architect
• Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
• Grimshaw Architects

Legal Victories for NYU in Two Lawsuits; Appeals to Follow

NY State Supreme Court Justice reject petitioners' request for discovery [NYU]

Your NYU 2031 Forecast: Lawsuits Forever [NYU Local]

Village tenants plan to appeal dismissal of NYU 2031 lawsuit [WSN]

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against NYU Expansion [DNAinfo] -- lawsuit brought against the university by a group of rent-stablized tenants of Washington Square Village