FULL: WSV Sasaki Garden Tour, August 1

GVSHP is no longer accepting reservations for the Sasaki Garden in Washington Square Village Walking Tour with Ellen Jouret-Epstein scheduled for August 1.

Aug 1: WSV Garden Tour with Ellen Jouret-Epstein‏

Sasaki Garden in Washington Square Village
A Walking Tour with Ellen Jouret-Epstein
Thursday, August 1
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Meeting location provided after registration is confirmed
Free; reservations required

This 1.5 acre garden at Washington Square Village was completed in 1959 as an integral part of that modernist apartment complex, now owned by New York University.  An early project of the young landscape architecture firm, Sasaki, Walker and Associates, the Garden is one of the few examples in New York City of open space so well integrated with housing, and the only one from its period to survive. Based on her study of the garden, Ms. Jouret-Epstein will discuss the interesting history of the Washington Square Village complex, from its origins as part of Robert Moses’ development plans for the South Village to its purchase by NYU, and highlight the garden’s design and planting strategies that have preserved space and light for the surrounding buildings for more than 50 years.

Image and text from GVSHP.

Alienation of Parkland Hearing on July 18, 10:30 a.m.

The Alienation of parkland hearing is scheduled for Thursday, July 18, 10:30 a.m. in Judge Mills' chambers, Room 574, 111 Centre.

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.

NYS Supreme Court Hearing on Parkland Alienation by City and NYU

NYS Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills will hear testimony on parkland alienation by the City and NYU. The four parks in question are the Mercer Playground, LaGuardia Corner Gardens, LaGuardia Park, and the Mercer-Houston Dog Run

Tuesday, February 26th
11:30 AM
COURTROOM OF JUSTICE DONNA MILLS
New York State Supreme Court, Civil Branch
111 Centre Street, Room 574

A message from Bo Riccobono of NYUFASP:

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

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

TODAY, June 29th: Rally + Council Hearing

TODAY, June 25th: Phone Zap the City Council

Per GVSHP, call City Councilmembers next Monday, the 25th to urge them to vote 'NO' on the NYU plan. Phone numbers and a script are HERE and printed below:

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PLEASE CALL CITY COUNCILMEMBERS URGING THEM TO REJECT THE NYU EXPANSION PLAN.

They are ranked in the order of importance for you to call; call all fifty-one if you can.

June 29th: Rally City Council to Vote NO on NYU 2031

GVSHP and NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan will be holding a press conference/rally on the steps of City Hall on Friday the 29th at 8:30 am, prior to the City Council NYU hearing, displaying our opposition to the NYU plan and calling upon the City Council to vote ‘NO.’

Update: June 29th: City Council Hearing on NYU 2031

The City Council will hold its only hearing on NYU 2031 on Friday, June 29th at 9:30 a.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

From GVSHP:

PLEASE ask people to write and call City Councilmembers urging them to vote no – see http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/nyu-2031-ltr-b.htm and http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/nyu-phone.htm, and please send an e-mail to Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio thanking him for his rep on the City Planning Commission’s vote AGAINST the NYU plan – GetHelp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov.

From NYUFASP:

One action that all of us, faculty, can and must take to convince the City Council to block the expansion is to call and/or write to the trio of Council Members who will no doubt prove to be the most influential in the political process going forward:

Speaker Christine C. Quinn
The New York City Council
224 West 30th Street, Suite #1206
New York, NY 10001
Tel.: 212-564-7757

Councilwoman Margaret Chin
The New York City Council
Chatham Green
165 Park Row, Suite #11
New York, NY 10038
Tel.: 212-587-3159

Councilwoman Rosie Mendez
The New York City Council
250 Broadway, Rm. 1734
New York, NY 10007
Tel.: 212-788-7366

A final name to add to our must-call list is that of Public Advocate Bill De Blasio:
Mr. Bill De Blasio
Public Advocate for the City of New York
1 Centre Street, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10007
Constituent services: (212) 669-7250

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.