Results of Feb. 26th Hearing of Article 78 Case

For Immediate Release: February 26, 2013

Contact: Linda Cronin-Gross, LCG Communications: 718.853.5568; 917.767.1141; linda@lcgcommunications.com

NYU Expansion Plan Case:

Victory for Petitioners: Court Orders City, NYU to Respond to Petitioners’ Request for Discovery and Hearing on Issue of Parkland Giveaway in NYU Sexton Plan; Actor Matthew Broderick, Playwright Kenneth Lonergan Join Sexton Plan Opponents in Open Court

Petitioners in the NYU Sexton Expansion Plan case walked away with their first legal victory today, as State Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills sided with them and ordered the City and NYU to “show cause” why petitioners’ request for a hearing and expedited discovery on their “parkland alienation” claim should be dismissed. Petitioners argued that the City’s approval of the NYU expansion plan was illegal because, among other things, it gave NYU rights over four public parks, in violation of state law, which requires, under the Public Trust Doctrine, that parkland can’t be given away without state approval.

Transcript of CPC Vote on the NYU 2031 plan

The following transcript of the City Planning Commission’s discussion and vote on the NYU 2031 plan based on recordings of the proceedings was provided by the GVSHP. Thanks to a loyal reader for bringing this information to our attention.

Chair Burden:  Today the City Planning Commission is voting on four actions to facilitate the growth of New York University’s main campus in the Washington Square area. NYU is proposing to construct four new buildings to include academic space, a new athletic facility, student dorms, NYU faculty housing, and approximately four acres of public parks and publicly accessible open spaces. Throughout the public review process, including more than 10 hours of testimony at the Commission’s public hearing, we heard strong support for NYU’s need to grow and modernize its academic core in order to remain a globally competitive institution, an economic anchor for New York City. We also are deeply concerned about many stakeholders, including community members, local elected officials, regarding the scale of the proposal and the project’s potential effects on residents’ quality of life. Our challenge has been to determine how best to accommodate NYU’s physical space needs while at the same time addressing the land use impact and implications of the proposal.

NYU 2031 Receives "Easy Approval" from CPC

"New York University reined in its expansion plans further today by eliminating a controversial hotel and accommodations for retail, paving the way for an easy approval from the City Planning Commission," begins The Local East Village article about the City Planning Commission (CPC) vote in favor of NYU 2031 (emphasis added).

Easy despite objections to the 20-year expansion plan by elected officials (here), Community Board 2 (here), community organizations (here) including a legal brief - the GVSHP Gibson Dunn Report (here), and approximately 1,394 pages from the public (here).

June 5th: The WSJ on NYU 2031

The day before the CPC announced its vote of 12:1 in favor of NYU 2031, the Wall Street Journal published "NYU Tries to Move Ahead With Expansion." The interactive graphic used in the article is misleading and the reporter does not discuss the fact that NYU wants to take public land in order to achieve its development goals. Here's an excerpt from the article:

The construction will take two decades to carry out and will unquestionably create at least some disruption for students, faculty members and Village residents. Yet it will barely bring NYU—which is unique in that it doesn't have a campus and has thus faced decades of space constraints—in line with its top-flight peers.

NYC Planning Commission Approves NYU2031 by 12:1

The New York City Planning Commission (CPC) voted 12:1 to approve NYU's 20 Year Expansion Plan with minor changes.  Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio's representative voted against the plan.  The recommended changes to the plan are:

• The height of the proposed new buildings in Washington Square Village have been reduced
• The commercial overlay for the blocks east of Washington Square has been eliminated
• The hotel use has been eliminated from the proposed "Zipper" Building on Mercer Street
• Some underground classroom space under what are currently publicly owned park spaces have been eliminated

Take Action:
Write City Councilmembers urging them to reject the NYU plan > >
Call City Councilmembers' offices urging them to reject the NYU plan > >
Thank Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio for his independence and for his City Planning Commission appointee voting AGAINST the plan -- e-mail him at GetHelp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov!

For more details on the decision, readthe full letter from Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation which is included below.  NYU's press release about the CPC decision can be read at http://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/govCommunAffairs/documents/2031/Resources%20Page/NYU-2031-Core-Proposal-June-6-2012.pdf.

NYU Expansion Strikes the Perfect Balance?

In his May 31 article for The New York Observer, Matt Chaban quoted Amanda Burden on NYU 2031: "It’s perfectly balanced between the needs of the community and the needs of the university."  A day later, on June 1, the paper updated Chaban's article to reflect a statement from City Planning Department spokeswoman Rachaele Raynoff: "...the commission is still working on various modifications to NYU’s plan, and that is where the commissioner is striving to achieve a perfect balance."  Read the full article at http://observer.com/2012/05/amanda-burden-nyu-expansion-strikes-the-perfect-balance/.

NYU Core Final Environmental Impact Statement

The NYU 2031 Core Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) can be downloaded by chapter at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/env_review/nyu_core.shtml. Note that Appendix I contains Responses to Comments Received on the NYU Core Draft Scope of Work and Appendix J includes Written Comments Received on the NYU Core Draft Scope of Work and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

N.Y.U. flip-flops on what it requires in its 'core'

The Villager printed an op-ed by Andrew Berman, executive director, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, on May 24, 2012 which can be read in full at http://www.thevillager.com/?p=4737. An excerpt from the essay:

N.Y.U. is asking to upend zoning protections, take over public land and violate urban renewal deed restrictions to allow its Village expansion. In response to questions from the commission about who would be utilizing the facilities N.Y.U. wants to build, we found out that the occupants of the large freshman dorm proposed for the Silver Towers superblock would be students moved there from N.Y.U.’s large freshman dorm located at 23rd St. and Third Ave.

Of course N.Y.U.’s acquisition of the 23rd St. building for freshman dorms was met with great fanfare in 2007, framed as part of the university’s move to think “outside the core” and stop oversaturating the Village with its facilities. Adding to the irony, N.Y.U. has tried to promote its Village expansion plan as one which locates in the core only that which “must” go there. Has the university been unable to function for the last four years with first-year students housed on 23rd St.?

Amanda Burden: 19 Months Left to Remake New York

What does Amanda Burden's goals for her tenure as director of the New York City Planning Department mean for the Sasaki Garden and the NYU Superblocks?

“Today, I am thrilled to vote on the department’s latest sustainability initiative,” said Ms. Burden, the director of the New York City Planning Department, her clipped diction and sophisticated dress contrasting with the worn-out rug and metal chairs of her surroundings. Ms. Burden was referring to Zone Green, “the most comprehensive effort of any city in the nation,” she said, to use zoning to spur environmentally efficient building.

It is the latest effort by Ms. Burden to transform the face of New York. Since 2002, when she was appointed to head City Planning, she has overseen the wholesale rezoning of the city, with 115 rezoning plans covering more than 10,300 blocks; by the end of her administration, the department is expected to have rezoned about 40 percent of New York, an unprecedented number.

Read the entire profile at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/nyregion/amanda-burden-planning-commissioner-is-remaking-new-york-city.html.

City Planning Commission Review Sessions on NYU

From Community Board 2 Manhattan chair, Brad Hoylman:

Members of the public are able to observe the CPC review sessions on the NYU expansion proposal, although there is no opportunity for testimony or questions from the public. The next review session is on Monday, May 21 at 1 p.m. in Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street. Another public review session will be held on June 4, 1 p.m. in Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street. This is a good chance for the community to stay on top of the proceedings as they are discussed by the Commission. Please check the CPC website http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/luproc/calbeg.shtml for agendas as they become available.

NYU Submission to City Planning Commission

NYU Vice President Alicia Hurley, PhD submitted to the CPC "followup materials to address questions that were raised at the hearing" held on April 25, 2012. The 65-page document can be found online at http://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/govCommunAffairs/documents/2031/NYU-2031-Submission-for-City-Planning-Commission.pdf.

Of particular interest to Save the WSV Sasaki Garden advocates is the following category and definition of
 

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher File Objections to NYU 2031

NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation have retained Gibson Dunn to file suit against the NYU 2031 plan. Gibson Dunn has submitted a Statement of Objections to NYU 2031 to the NY City Planning Commission (CPC).

An excerpt from the statement:

What is at issue here is whether NYU can justify, and whether the CPC will endorse, the severe impacts on the Greenwich Village community, and particularly the NYU faculty,

May Day Action: Write a Letter to the City Planning Commission

A local resident submitted the following MAY DAY ACTION:

No matter where you live in NY city, you can help stop the massive destruction plan NYU proposes to start in 2013 by writing a hand written note to the City Planning Commission asap. They vote in the project next Monday.

You don't need to give reasons or say a lot, just express your opposition to building in Greenwich Village when there are other sites in Manhattan (primarily in the Wall Street area) that are begging to have NYU locate their massive expansion down there.

You can say something as simple as "I utterly oppose the NYU 2031 Expansion Plan" or you can say, "GOD NO. DO not let NYU destroy the Village." Or anything else you want to say.

News on the April 25th CPC Hearing

N.Y.U. freshmen need a campus — on Governors Island [The Villager]

Critics Outweigh Support at NYU 2031 City Planning Hearing [NearSay]

Mixed reactions to NYU 2031 voiced at public hearing [Washington Square News]

Halt University Construction [The New Republic]

N.Y.U.’s Expansion Plan, as Seen by Its Leaders [New York Times Letter to the Editor]

Expand Minds, Not the N.Y.U. Campus [New York Times Op-Ed]

City Planning members grill N.Y.U. on superblocks plan [The Villager]

Columbia University President Speaks Out in Support for NYU Expansion Plan [DNAinfo.com]

NYU expansion detractors rally at public hearing [The Real Deal]

Summary of the hearing [GVSHP]

Bookmark this page for continued coverage of the CPC Hearing!

TOMORROW: City Planning Commission Hearing on NYU 2031

NYU Expansion on North and South blocks (in gray) courtesy of GVSHP (source)

The New York City Planning Commission will hold ITS ONLY PUBLIC HEARING on the NYU Expansion Plan TOMORROW Wednesday, April 25th at 10 a.m. at the National Museum of the American Indian at 1 Bowling Green. More information is available at http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/nyu-04-09-12.htm.

NYU Expansion Plan Opponents Want Hearing Postponed

The following LAW360 article was copied from the NYUFASP Facebook page.

NYU Expansion Plan Opponents Want Hearing Postponed
By Kaitlin Ugolik

Law360, New York (April 19, 2012, 3:48 PM ET) -- Attorneys representing two community groups opposing New York University's revised 2-million-square-foot expansion plan on Thursday asked the city's planning commission to produce a new environmental impact statement for the project and postpone a public hearing until specific details are released.

Video: STOP NYU's 2031 Expansion Plan

8blocksandbeyond created a video call to action titled "STOP NYU's 2031 Expansion Plan" which can be viewed below or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgBKhRGkLU0&feature=channel&list=UL. (Hat tip: WSVTA.)

Updated: April 25th City Planning Commission Hearing on NYU 2031

NYU Expansion on North and South blocks (in gray) courtesy of GVSHP (source)

The New York City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the NYU Expansion Plan on Wednesday, April 25th at 10 a.m. at the National Museum of the American Indian at 1 Bowling Green. More information is available at http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/nyu-04-09-12.htm.