Sunday, September 30, 2012

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)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

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.

Friday, September 21, 2012

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)

Monday, September 10, 2012

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)

Saturday, September 8, 2012

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.

Friday, September 7, 2012

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)