Report of the CB2 Arts & Institutions Committee

REPORT OF THE ARTS & INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE

October 23, 2012

The Arts & Institutions Committee of Community Board #2, Manhattan, held a meeting on October 23rd, 2012, at 6:30 PM, at the Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, Father Demo Hall.

Board Members Present: Terri Cude, Chair; Robin Rothstein, Anne Hearn

Board Members Excused: Jo Hamilton, Arthur Kriemelman, Susan Wittenberg

Board Members Absent: none

Other CB2 Members attending:  David Gruber, CB2 Chair; Susanna Aaron, Lois Rakoff

Elected Officials attending: Katie Smith representing U.S. Congressman Nadler, Sarah Malloy-Good representing State Assemblymember Glick, Matthew Viggiano representing Councilmember Chin.

A presentation by New York University (NYU) was given by Dr. Alicia Hurley, reporting on what was included in the final approvals for the NYU 2031 Core Expansion Plan, as well as timing and phasing of the proposed construction on the Superblocks between Houston and W. 3^rd Streets and Mercer Street and LaGuardia Place.

Photo: Garden Hawthorns in Poor Condition

Hawthorns, northern edge of the WSV Sasaki Garden, courtesy of Hubert J Steed (source)

The hawthorn pictured in the foreground of the photograph lost a major branch (it's only one) during an early fall storm (not superstorm Sandy).  The remaining trunk was removed after the hurricane.  The hawthorns in the background have been improperly pruned and no longer exhibit the traditional structure of a hawthorn.  Furthermore, the loss of much of their canopy has led to poor growth and stunted habit.

NYU's Final Approved ULURP Plan (Oct. 23, 2012)

NYU's Final Approved ULURP Plan as presented to Community Board 2 on October 23, 2012 is available at http://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/govCommunAffairs/documents/2031/2012-10-23-ULURP-Approvals-Summary-Presentation.pdf, with items of particular interest on pages 11, 13, and 14.

Recent Media Coverage of NYU 2031

From the Times Higher Education on November 14, Skyscraper's the limit for furious NYU academics.

Two Major Projects Will Help Transform NYU and NYC

The title of this post is the subtitle of an article in the NYU Alumni Magazine (Fall 2012) about NYU 2031 and the Center for Urban Science and Progress (or CUSP).

NYU has been busy this past year— and things are likely to get even busier since two vital projects were reccently green-lighted by the city..... To deal with an ever-tightening campus crunch, the university sought and received approvals for its first-ever, longterm space growth plan, called NYU 2031....NYU is at a significant disadvantage when it comes to space; the 2031 plan will help ensure the university can meet the needs of its students and faculty for decades to come. “While other sectors of New York’s economy have been shrinking, education has been expanding,” President John Sexton says. “Keeping our universities strong keeps New York strong, and will ensure [the city] remains a world capital in the years ahead.”

The complete article is available on pages 17 - 18 at http://www.nyu.edu/alumni.magazine/issue19/pdf/NYU19.pdf.

Mid-Century Modern Landscape Architecture

The Sasaki Garden is a mid-century modern landscape. No books have been written about it yet, but Lawrence Halprin's Skyline Park, a mid-century modern park, is the subject of a new book by Professor Ann Komora. Read ASLA's book review here.

CB2 Hearing of NYU 2031 Restrictive Declaration

Jessica Dailey covered the October 23rd CB2 hearing of the NYU Restrictive Declaration  of Large Scale General Development for Curbed and noted the following:

• Construction will not begin until 2014.
• NYU has not decided where construction will start but construction on the North Block/ Washington Square Village will not begin until 2022.

Images of the changes to the LaGuardia Place and Mercer Street elevations are embedded in the article.  Read it at http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/24/nyu_expansion_schedule_new_building_heights_revealed.php.

The Garden During and After Hurricane Sandy

One of readers shared the following photographs of the garden during and after Hurricane Sandy.

If you have photographs of the garden during the hurricane, please share them with us. Our email is savethewsvsasakigarden @ gmail.com.

NYU 2031 Means Less Open Space

According to an analysis conducted by Tom Angotti, Ph.D. and Evan Mason of the Hunter College Center for Community Planning & Development, implementing the NYU 2031 development plan would decrease the amount of open space in the neighborhood. Getting to NYU's Core: Greenwich Village Proposal Means Less Open Space is available online at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ccpd/repository/files/nyuopenspacefinal-formatted.pdf. You can also find a link to the document on our Resources Page.

Manhattan Neighborhood Network Interviews NYUFASP and GVSHP

Heather Wokusch of Manhattan Neighborhood Network interviewed Robert E. Riccobono, a member of NYU Faculty against the Sexton Plan and Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation about the Sexton Plan. The first half of the interview can be viewed below or by clicking here.



Hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association (via NYUFASP)

A "Stop the Purple Monster" Video

The "Stop the Purple Monster" - Oct 20/2012 at Washington Square Park from NYUFASP on Vimeo.

Hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association

Peter Walker to Receive Urban Land Institute Highest Honor

The Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village was designed by the landscape architecture firm Sasaki, Walker & Associates.  Peter Walker, now of Peter Walker Partners Landscape Architecture (or PWP Landscape Architecture), received the Urban Land Institute's J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, reports the Landscape Architecture Magazine blog.

Information about the J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development
Information about the Urban Land Institute

2031 is Monstrous

Photographs of today's "Stop the Purple Monster" March can be seen on Hubert J. Steed's PBase Gallery titled October 20, 2012 Photo Shoot - Washington Square NYC/NYU Expansion Protest.

October 20: "Stop the Purple Monster" March

An invitation from NYUFASP.

Join NYUFASP as we march with NYU students, faculty, alumni and members of the community to "Stop the Purple Monster." Led by a real "purple monster," we'll march to protest John Sexton's huge expansion plan, which will make student debt rise even higher while tearing down the Village we love.

Organized by All in the Red, a national group that fights for accessible debt-free education for all, the march will step off from Washington Square Park's Garibaldi Plaza around 12:30pm, rain or shine. 

The march coincides with NYU's Alumni Day. March coordinators will make several stops as the group tours the future construction zone: they will provide information about the history of the neighborhood & the university administration's expansion plans & will link these to issues of public space, education & student debt.

 The march will last about an hour and a half and is endorsed by many groups in addition to NYUFASP:  Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Community Action Alliance on NYU 2031, NYU Students and Alumni Against the Sexton Plan, and Save WSV Sasaki Garden Committee. In addition to our purple monster, we'll have balloons, puppets and a marching band.

Please plan to march with us.  Let's show our determination and unity!

For more information, 

 go here or email: nyu.fasp@gmail.com

NYU Restrictive Declaration of Large-Scale General Development

The Restrictive Declaration of Large-Scale General Development for the NYU LSGD by New York University dated July 2012 is now available online via GVSHP at http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/doc/nyu-restrictive-declaration.pdf.

Section 6.3 (d) Phase 3 Development provides the following information about the Sasaki Garden:

The open area in the central portion of the North Block Parcel located on the roof of the existing below grade parking facility (the “Sasaki Garden”) contains certain mature trees in planters. Although these trees are in areas in which construction and/or construction-related activities will occur, and therefore will be removed in connection with the construction and/or construction-related activities in this area, Declarant shall, in consultation with a qualified arborist and to the extent practicable, use all best horticultural practices to preserve such existing mature trees and, subject to City Planning approval, replant such trees on the Subject Property.

(Hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association)

Campus Expansions in Manhattan

Today's amNewYork reported on the expansion plans of several major universities in Manhattan: Cornell Tech, Columbia, Fordham, and NYU. Also, Hunter and Lehman Colleges are both expanding their campuses. Read the article here.

The University Space Priorities Working Group

A letter from NYU President John Sexton and Provost David McLaughlin to the NYU Community about the University Space Priorities Working Group, a body "formed to solicit meaningful input from our community."  (hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association)

From: NYU President John Sexton and Provost David McLaughlin office.president@nyu.edu

Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 10:04 AM

Subject: The University Space Priorities Working Group


TO: THE NYU COMMUNITY

FROM: NYU President John Sexton and Provost David McLaughlin

RE: The University Space Priorities Working Group


While we endeavored for the past several years to provide extensive information about the NYU Core Project which secures a spatial endowment for the University, we recognize that many members of the community feel there was insufficient consultation. We appreciate the depth of their concerns.

October 10: Save the Village: A Benefit Show

Source: NYUFASP

Also, on October 23, starting at 6:30 p.m., a "presentation by NYU about the Restrictive Declaration and agreements controlling NYU 2031 construction" will be made before the CB2 Arts & Institutions Committee. Location to be determined; check the CB2 Arts page at http://www.nyc.gov/html/mancb2/html/calendar/calendar_js.shtml#Arts.  (Hat tip: CAAN 2031)

Is New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s or Ours?

The title of this post was the question discussed by a moderated panel at the McNally Jackson bookstore in Soho on September 17th. The Villager covered the event here.

(Hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association)

Media Coverage of Lawsuit Against the City re: NYU 2031

NYU, City, State Sued Over NYU's Massive 2031 Expansion Plan [A Walk in the Park]

11 groups sue city to block NYU expansion [Crain's New York]

Purple Pulverizers: NYU Faculty, Preservationists Sue University Over Greenwich Village Expansion [New York Observer]

NYU, City, State Sued Over NYU's Giant 2031 Expansion Plan [Gothamist]

11 groups file suit against N.Y.U. plan for its superblocks [The Villager]

NYU meets more roadblocks to expansion [Washington Square News]

Plus...

Save the Village: A Benefit Show fundraiser
Save Greenwich Village and NYU: Stop the Sexton Plan online petition

11 Groups Sue City for Approving NYU 2031

Washington Square News is reporting that "[on Sept. 25th], 11 groups and 11 individuals banded together and filed a lawsuit against New York City for its approval of the NYU 2031 expansion plan."  Read the full coverage here.

Protest Messages Projected on NYU Buildings

NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan (NYUFASP) "took a page from Occupy Wall Street Wednesday night by projecting images protesting the redevelopment project on a handful of the college’s campus buildings."  Read the entire DNAinfo.com story here.  

(Hat tip: Urban Omnibus)

The Beast That Ate The Village by Diane Whelton

"Why should they want to improve [Washington Square]?" Tony [Dapolito] replied. "We asked NYU to reduce the size of its new library on Washington Square. We told them the huge building would cast a deep shadow over a big area of the park in winter, when sunlight is needed most. They said no. After the library was completed, they promised not to build anything else on Washington Square South. They lied about that. I realized they don't care if something makes the community unhappy. A happy community makes real estate values go up. They don't want us to feel at home here. It increases the cost of the properties they want to buy."

.... 

The apparatus of New York City government has become an arm of NYU's real estate program. The City Council, the Mayor and the State Legislature are easy targets for NYU's large and active force of lobbyists. NYU doesn't make nice with Greenwich Village and the City of New York because it doesn't have to. Its position as one of the largest employers in a city where unemployment is at 10 percent gives it all the leverage it needs.

Read Ms. Whelton's history of NYU development in the Village at http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/09/by_diane_wheltonas_the_2012-13.html. (Hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association)

NYU Professor Rebecca Karl Responds to WSN Reporter Amy Zhang

On August 25, 2012, Amy Zhang's article about NYU 2031 was published by the Washington Square News (WSN) here.  On September 4, 2012, WSN published Rebecca Karl's letter to the editor which can be read here.  Karl is an associate professor of East Asian Studies and History at NYU.  Her website is http://history.as.nyu.edu/object/rebeccakarl.html.

Superblocks Remain in Councilmember Chin's District

Preliminary maps drafted by the NYC Council Districting Commission show that the NYU superblocks remain in District 1 under the purview of Councilmember Margaret Chin, reports The Villager here.  (Hat tip: Washington Square Tenants Association)

Pro-development Bloomberg Administration

"The Bloomberg Administration is arguably one of the most pro-development governments in city history. Since he took office, the Mayor has used city agencies to unleash the forces of New York real estate while also steering those forces to meet goals for a cleaner, greener, and more equitable city," reports The Architects Newspaper.  The article does not mention NYU 2031 but it is a good read.  Find it at http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=6224.

Another Major Upzoning in the Village

The Trinity Realty Hudson Square zoning proposal has been 'certified' by the City. Read an analysis of this upzoning proposal in the New York Observer -- "Circling Hudson Square: Everybody Wants a Piece of the Last Untouched Neighborhood—Except for Those Who Just Want To Be Left Alone" -- here. Excerpts from the article for your consideration are below.

For the past five years, Trinity has been devising a plan to turn a number of sites it controls in the area into housing, that most lucrative of New York City real estate ventures. Along the way, it has created the largest private rezoning in city history, twice the size of the massive 26-acre Hudson Yards development 40 blocks to the north, three times the size of Columbia’s new Manhattanville campus.

---

At Monday’s planning meeting, some commissioners questioned why it was a private developer, and not the city itself, that was undertaking such a monumental planning effort. “This is a private application that very much looks and smells and feels like a neighborhood rezoning,” Commissioner Anna Levin said. “I’m curious about the degree of interchange between staff and the applicant in taking this up and shaping it. Also, the extent to which other stakeholders and other property owners have been consulted.”

Edith Hsu-Chen, director of the department’s Manhattan office, responded, “Certainly this is a neighborhood rezoning, one put forward by a private applicant. As we have many applications, certainly, with this amount of coverage, there have been discussions with the department. But again, this is a private application, as we want to make clear.”

August Headlines

In New York, history battles growth [The Hindu Business Line] (hat tip: Washington Square Tenants Association)

Expansion Plan Shaken, Not Scrapped [Washington Square News] (Try this link if the previous one generates an error code)

W.S.V. residents sue N.Y.U. to save garden, playground [The Villager]

Will NYU's Sexton Plan Screw Students and Bring School Down? [OpEdNews]

Washington Square Village Residents Sue NYU for Development Plan [DNAinfo]

NYU plan slapped in lawsuit [NY Daily News]

Bowery Boys on New York University

The Bowery Boys have recorded a podcast about NYU's history!

They once called it the University of the City of New York, an innovative, non-denominational school located in a intellectual castle on the northeast corner of the Washington military parade ground. Today it's better known as New York University, one of America's largest private schools of higher education, inhabiting dozens of buildings throughout the city.

Find out more about its spectacular and sometimes strange history, from the inventors among its early faculty to some of the more curious customs among its 19th century student body. But the story of NYU is often defined by its growth, the need for expansion, and conflicts with the community.

Read more here and listen to the podcast here.

Photo: West Third Street: Not Green, Not Livable

West Third between LaGuardia Place and Greene courtesy Hubert J Steed (source) (more)

The north side of West Third Street between LaGuardia Place and Greene Street is lined by NYU buildings that turn their backs on the sidewalk and street; an inhospitable route.

Sasaki Signs and Accessible Atriums

From Andrew Berman's op-ed in The Village Voice titled Top 10 outrageous things about N.Y.U. plan approval:

Sasaki signs and accessible atriums: The “amenities” offered to the public in exchange for the lavish approvals given to N.Y.U. would be funny if they weren’t so sad. Two stand out. First, N.Y.U. will have to install better signs announcing that Washington Square Village’s award-winning Sasaki Garden is open to the public — that is, before it demolishes the garden to make way for massive new buildings and an underground labyrinth of labs and classroom. Second, in exchange for the loss of public parks, playgrounds, gardens and dog runs, N.Y.U. will have to allow public access to an atrium inside the massive, million-square-foot Zipper Building.

(Andrew Berman is the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.)

Photo: Ode to the Garden's Willow

Sitar Musician Playing a Raga under Weeping Willow by Hubert J Steed (source)

The willow and pines in the southeast corner of the Garden are a favorite spot for many users of and visitors to the Sasaki Garden. View a the slideshow of the willow's "changing colors and forms" at http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/our_willow_tree.  Also consider listening to Billie Holiday's "Willow Weep for Me" (hat tip: Hubert J. Steed).

Garden Photos from RAPPER (Resident Against the Plan)

"Resident Against the Plan" shared the following photos of the Sasaki Garden with us.  Enjoy!

Green Infrastructure Capacity of Superblocks

Writing about the Lower East Side towers-in-the-park owned by the NYC Housing Authority, urban historian/planner/and designer Kerri Culhane observes:

Superblocks provide the advantage of open space for the deployment of green infrastructure.

The Sasaki Garden is existing and functioning green infrastructure! The City should acknowledge the garden in the Green Infrastructure Plan released by DEP in 2010 instead of allowing NYU to demolish the Garden to accommodate 1,180,000 square feet* of new construction.

Read Ms. Culhane's essay for Urban Omnibus at http://urbanomnibus.net/2012/08/making-connections-planning-for-green-infrastructure-in-two-bridges/.

* This figure is the certified square footage of the North Block of the NYU 2031 plan.  City Council on July 25, 2012 reduced the gross square footage on the North Block to 585,000 square feet.  See here for details.

Photo: Children Use the Sasaki Garden

Learning Numbers on the Garden Path by Hubert J Steed (source)

Imagining Greenwich Village in 2031

"...what if the current incarnation of the plan is upheld and remains largely unchanged? What will Greenwich Village look like in 2031? Will it be congested, overcrowded and largely unlivable, as many naysayers suggest, or will the plan usher in a new chapter of peaceful coexistence between NYU and its Village neighbors?"

Read more of Alan Krawitz article for New York Press at http://nypress.com/imagining-greenwich-village-in-2031/.

Photo: Destined for a Tree Museum?

WSV Sasaki Garden, July 2012 courtesy of Hubert J Steed (source)

From "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell

...

They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
Then they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you've got
'Til it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

...

(Source: letssingit.com)

Coverage of the 44-1 Council Vote for NYU 2031

NYU 2031 Approved with Modifications [The Nation]

The University That’s Eating New York! [The Nation]

City Council approves NYU expansion plan for Greenwich Village [Gotham Gazette]

Council O.K.’s N.Y.U. plan; Antis booted out before vote [The Vilager]

Big NYU expansion passes final hurdle [Crain's New York]]

NYU Expansion Wins Near-Unanimous Approval From City Council [Gothamist]

NYU Expansion Critics Tossed Out of City Council Chambers Before 'Yes' Vote [DNAinfo]

City Council Approves NYU 2031 Expansion [Village Voice]

NYU 2031 plan wins key vote by Council committee [Chelsea Voice]

City Council Passes NYU's Village Expansion Plan [Curbed NY]

Council Approves NYU Expansion Plan [WNYC]

New York Council Approves NYU Expansion Over Neighbor Objections [San Francisco Chronicle]

City Council approves massive NYU expansion, residents vow to sue [amNY]

Two Postscripts: 44-1 Council Vote for NYU 2031

From Alicia D. Hurley on the City Council Vote for Approval on the NYU 2031 Core Plan

Today’s City Council vote in favor of NYU’s 2031 Core plan marks the culmination of over five years of planning, hundreds of hours of meetings with our NYU and external communities, and successive iterations of our plans that were designed to strike a balance between allowing the University to meet its critical academic needs while being sensitive to our surrounding community. The University will now have the ability to plan for growth on its own property in Greenwich Village, complemented by expansion that is taking place in Downtown Brooklyn and near our Health Facilities on Manhattan’s east side. This roadmap for where to plan future facilities will ensure a vibrant and strong University for the decades to come. Read more at http://www.nyu.edu/nyu2031/nyuinnyc/.


From the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

We have to share with you the sad news that today the City Council voted 44 to 1 to approve NYU’s massive proposed Village expansion plan. The Council chose to ignore thousands of New Yorkers and by far the majority of NYU faculty, staff, and workers who had called upon them to reject the plan. GVSHP had urged NYU and the Council, the City Planning Commission, and Borough President Stringer to consider win-win alternatives to the current plan by locating new facilities in the Financial District where such development is wanted and needed. Instead, they voted to violate the public trust, turn this neighborhood into a twenty-year construction zone, and further tip the balance of the Village’s neighborhood character to increasing dominance by NYU. Read more at http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/nyu-07-25-12.htm.

NYU 2031 = A Net Loss of 2.52 Acres

Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village (Source: GVSHP)

Read the GVSHP blog post about the reductions in open space if NYU 2031 is approved by City Council.

Although the footprint of the proposed construction on the north superblock has been reduced slightly since, the study identified the loss in open space resulting from NYU’s original proposal — from 6.23 acres currently to 3.71 acres, a net loss of 2.52 acres, in what is the community district with the second lowest ratio of open space per resident in the city.

Monumentalizing of NYU from the Ashes of the Greenwich Village

The title of this post is taken from E. L. Doctorow's editorial published in the N.Y. Daily News on July 25. Here is an excerpt:

This is the familiar story of a corporation versus people. New York University has morphed into a corporation. The people whom it would ride over with its vast, “NYU 2031” expansion plan are not only residents of Greenwich Village, whose open spaces and gardens and historic streets are to be torn up and inundated in dust and debris and left in the shadow of skyscrapers, but the men and women within the university who define its reason for being.

Read more at http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/nyu-expansion-insult-injury-village-article-1.1121150#ixzz21eCmbDUN. (Hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association.)

A Brief History of NYU Land Battles

A Brief History of NYU Land Battles by Henry Grabar for The Atlantic Cities can be read at http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/07/brief-history-nyu-land-battles/2600/. Here are some excerpts with emphasis added:

Over the last year, the expansion—perhaps the largest single construction project in Village history, an addition of floor space that nearly amounts to an Empire State Building—has been clearing administrative hurdles, the land use battle shifting in the university’s favor.

Coverage of the City Council Vote Against the Community

Note: the full City Council does not vote until July 25th. Only the full Land Use Committee and the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee voted today.

Margaret Chin and NYU [Chelsea Now]

NYU 2031 Approved with Modifications [The Nation]

City Council Gives Preliminary Greenlight to New York University Expansion Plan [The Village Voice]

Thank you, Councilmember Charles Barron of Brooklyn

Councilmember Charles Barron of Brooklyn was the only dissenting member of the full City Council Committee on Land Use. Thank you!

Council member Charles Barron slammed NYU and its proposal before entering the lone dissenting vote.

"These are neighborhoods. They are not university towns," he said. "We should send them back to the drawing board and make them respect the wishes of the community."

"We are going to regret this vote," Barron said. [Source: amNY]

NY City Council Votes Against the Community

The NY City Council voted against the community today. The City Council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises unanimously voted in favor of NYU 2031. The full Committee on Land Use vote was split: with 19 members voting in favor, one member opposed, and one member abstaining. (source: Deborah J. Glick)

Green Alternative to NYU 2031

Join GVSHP and NYUFASP on July 17 at a press conference for the Green Alternative to NYU 2031.  The press conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the steps of City Hall.  More details are available on the GVSHP website.

TODAY July 16th Phone Zap

Per GVSHP, call City Councilmembers TODAY, July 16th to urge them to vote 'NO' on the NYU plan.  Phone numbers and a script are HERE and printed below.

Your own City Councilmember — search below for contact info or CLICK HERE if you don’t know who your Councilmember's name.

Save Our Historic Lush Life

From a NY Times op-ed by Frank Bruni about the dramatic rise in green space in NYC published on July 14th:

"We're living in an era of re-urbanization," said Catherine Nagel, executive director of the City Parks Alliance, which is sponsoring the [Greater & Greener] conference in New York. And the increased population density means that "we need green space," she said.

Let's hope the New York City Council will vote to preserve the green open space in Greenwich Village!  Bruni's complete editorial is available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/bruni-in-urban-parks-our-newly-lush-life.html.

July 15th: A Book Party to Save New York City

City Council Votes on NYU 2031 on July 17 and 25

Dogwood at the WSV Sasaki Garden (photo courtesy Hubert J. Steed, source)

CAAN2031 reports that the City Council will vote on NYU 2031 on July 17th and 25th.  The details are as follows:

July 17 at City Hall Council Chambers: Land Use Committee. The Zoning & Franchises subcommittee is meeting at 9:30, and the Land Use committee meeting starts at 10am. A committee-level vote on NYU 2031 is expected. Public may attend, but this is not a hearing so the public will most likely not be permitted to speak.

Questioning the Financial Viability of NYU 2031

NYU Professors Accuse President of Exaggerating Need for Expansion [DNAinfo.com]

Why is NYU building? [Reuters]

(Hat tip: Washington Square Village Tenants Association)

Photo: Tree Canopy on Laguardia Place

Image: Tree canopy cover on Laguardia Place looking south (courtesy of Hubert J. Steed,  http://www.pbase.com/image/144624920)

Deborah J Glick Speaking Out Against NYU 2031

Watch Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick at the June 29th rally which preceded the City Council Hearing on NYU 2031.



Check out the other videos on the Save the WSV Sasaki Garden channel at Youtube.

The Villager editorial: Chin must reduce NYU 2031 project’s scale

The Villager editorial titled "Chin must reduce N.Y.U. 2031 project’s scale" provided "a six-point road map to help put [the NYu 2031 plan] into balance." The six points relate to the strips, the Zipper Building, the Mercer Boomerang Building, Washington Square Village (WSV), the Bleecker Building, and the 505 Laguardia Place lease.  About the WSV courtyard:

N.Y.U.’s contention that it would create public open space inside of Washington Square Village by building two Boomerang Buildings and creating a university quad strains credibility. The Planning Commission has called for a management and programming oversight committee for the proposed open space. Councilmember Chin needs to give this oversight committee legislative teeth so that it can effectively fulfill its oversight function.

Read the complete article at http://www.thevillager.com/?p=6154.

Birds of the NYU Superblocks

From "The Birds in Our Garden: The Potential Impacts of the NYU 2031 Expansion Plan on Birds & Other Wildlife" by biologist Gabriel Willow:

The Birds in Our Garden report was completed with the help of the Save the WSV Sasaki Garden Committee and local volunteers.  The complete report is available online here and is referenced on our Resources page here.