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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

Coverage of City Council Hearing on NYU 2031

Media coverage of the June 29th City Council hearing on NYU 2031 courtesy of NYUFASP.  If you find other articles, photos, or videos, please include in a comment to this post, thank you.

• The NYT Local East Village Blog tweeted live @nytlev or http://twitter.com/nytlev

• http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2012/06/matthew-broderick-knocks-nyu-expansion-plan

• http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/broderick_fights_nyu_greenwich_village_WWFg6B7L23TWwKo9ihFf3M

TODAY, June 29th: Rally + Council Hearing

"Garden Struggle" in The Villager

So much information packed into a short article about the struggle for the life of the WSV Sasaki Garden!

Meanwhile, though we know intense negotiations between all parties are currently ongoing, we asked Councilmember Margaret Chin for an official statement on N.Y.U. 2031. Her position will be critical when the Council takes its vote in mid-July. From the sound of it, she’s hearing what the community is saying — and feels that residents’ concerns “come first.” “Right now, I am focused on bringing the best possible proposal in front of the Council,” Chin told us. “This is a give-and-take process, and N.Y.U. needs to modify their proposal. I have made it known that the amount of density that has been proposed is out of scale with the surrounding community. I want a plan that residents can live with first, and that N.Y.U. can live with second.”

Read the entire article at http://www.thevillager.com/?p=5887.

TODAY June 28th: Memorial for the WSV Sasaki Garden

Source: http://nyufasp.com/2012/06/is-the-sasaki-garden-doomed-join-us-there-on-thursday-to-say-no/

TODAY on WNYC: NYU Professors on Expansion Plan

Segment link: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2012/jun/27/professors-weigh-nyus-expansion-plan/

From the Leonard Lopate show webpage:

As the City Council prepares to vote on NYU's controversial expansion plan, 34 of the University's academic departments and divisions have passed resolutions against the plan, including the Stern School of Business and the Economics Department. Three faculty members: Jeff Goodwin, Professor of Sociology, Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, and Ann Pellegrini, Professor of Performance Studies and Religious Studies, explain their concerns, and look at how corporate influence is affecting higher education in general.

• Listen to Leonard's conversation on NYU's expansion plan (from March 26)

3 Things To Do This Week to Help Defeat NYU2031

From the co-chairs of Community Action Alliance on NYU 2031:

> Today (Monday, June 25): Call your Councilmember (and/or the Committee and/or the whole Council) on Monday, June 25 to let them know you OPPOSE the NYU 2031 land grab.

Who’s Who of the City Council

The City Council consists of 51 members but the following five members are critical in the ULURP voting process on. The City Council's only public hearing on the NYU 2031 plan will be held on Friday, June 29th. Today, June 25th, Phone ZAP the City Council.

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:

--- 

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.

NYU 2031 = Upzoning

CAAN 2031 is refuting Dr. Alicia Hurley's claim that NYU is not seeking upzoning for its 20 Year Expansion Plan. (Dr. Hurley is vice president of NYU Government Affairs & Civic Engagement.)

Be very clear – NYU cannot build their proposed buildings without changing the zoning. The superblocks currently have R7 zoning – the highest level of mid-density zoning and higher than most zoning in Greenwich Village. It is only found in the area on avenues or wide commercial thoroughfares like 8th Street. The commercial zone with which NYU seeks to blanket the two residential superblocks is the equivalent of R8 residential zoning (considered high-density), plus commercial allowed on the lower floors.

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.’