Coverage of Winning Lawsuit against Alienation of Parkland by NYU and NYC

Judge Blocks Part of N.Y.U.’s Plan for Four Towers in Greenwich Village [NY Times]

NYU’s expansion plan dealt blow as judge rules state legislature must sign off on deal to complete most of project [Daily News]

Judge Halts NYU Expansion, Says State Approval Is Needed [Curbed NY]

Judge says city broke the law by approving N.Y.U. superblocks plan [The Villager]

Did we miss an article or video?  Let us know in the comment section.

Coverage of July 18 Parkland Alienation Hearing

Padma Lakshmi Joins Villagers' Fight Against NYU Expansion [Gothamist]

‘Top Chef’ host Padma Lakshmi joins fight against NYU’s planned Village expansion [New York Post]

Padma Lakshmi Joins NYU Expansion Opponents in Court [DNAinfo]

Sexy vs. Sexton: Padma Shows Up to Support Lawsuit Against NYU 2031 [Bedford + Bowery]

Village residents face off against NYU to keep green space [The Real Deal]

TOMORROW, June 20: Mayoral Candidate Sal Albanese Tours the Garden

Join us this Thursday, June 20th @ 1:30 pm in the historic Sasaki Garden
for a Tour and Press Conference with Mayoral Candidate Sal Albanese
as He Declares His Opposition to the Sexton Plan!

Come to Sasaki Garden this Thursday to hear Sal Albanese publicly announce his opposition to the Sexton Plan and his support for the residents of the Village and for all those fighting irresponsible development throughout the City.

Please mark it on your calendars!

Hope to see many of you there.

"Save WSV Sasaki Garden" does not endorse candidates for political office.

(Editor's Note: This post has been edited for clarity.)

Global and Local Public Land Grabs

Greenwich Village is not the only community fighting to preserve access to and control of its public lands.  Public land grabs are happening elsewhere in NYC and globally, with the Gezi Park conflict in Turkey the most visible land seizure.  Here is a round-up of articles about this issue.

Urban Trees as Triggers, From Istanbul to Oregon [New York Times]

What Is It About Trees? [Huff Post]

The Case of NYCHA’s Disappearing Open Space [Shelterforce]

NYCHA Plan for Private Developers Is Resisted [The Wall Street Journal]

No Place for Amateurs: A New Stadium vs. Queens’ Soccer Fields [Urban Omnibus]

Please share your news links with us in the comments.

TODAY: Selling and Giving Away NYC Parks on WNYC

Don't miss the "Selling and Giving Away NYC Parks" on today's Leonard Lopate Show.  Leonard's guest is Jim Walden, an attorney with Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.

The practice of selling, or even giving away, public parkland and historic sites to private developers has become a disturbing trend in recent years. Attorney Jim Walden has taken several of these cases to court, including one involving Brooklyn Bridge Park, as well as the current case of the New York University expansion taking over public open space. He'll look at what the law says, and what can be done to protect these public spaces.

If you can't listen live, catch it later as a podcast.  Here's the link: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/apr/23/selling-and-giving-away-nyc-parks/.

Coverage of University Expansion Elswhere in NYC

CUNY and Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Plans Prompt Open Space Concerns, October 12, 2012 [DNAinfo]

Village Residents Angry Over Proposed Dorm Construction; For Once, It’s Not NYU’s Fault, February 27, 2013 [NYU Local]

Media Coverage of Feb. 26th Hearing of Article 78 Case

Mercer Playground, land formally transferred to NYC Parks in 1997, photo courtesy of localecology.org

Mar. 7, 2013:

Can a Community Garden Stop the NYU Expansion? [NY Press]

Feb. 28, 2013:

N.Y.U. project foes hail judge’s ruling about strips [The Villager]

http://www.thevillager.com/2013/02/28/not-strips-but-parks/ [The Villager]


Feb. 27, 2013:

Judge Allows New Documentation In NYU Expansion Hearing [City & State]

NYU gotta be kidding! Matthew Broderick rips $6B expansion [NY Post]


Feb. 26, 2013:

NYU Expansion Opponents Victorious in Initial Legal Skirmish [Curbed]

Matthew Broderick Joins NYU Expansion Opponents in Court [DNAinfo]

Not in my backyard: Matthew Broderick slams NYU expansion [NY Post]

NYU's Expansion Plan Challenged in Court Today [The Village Voice]

Professors And Villagers Take NYU To Court, Matthew Broderick Shows Up To Watch [NYU Local]


(Hat tip: WSV Tenants Association)

Media Coverage of Former NYC Parks Commissioner Stern's Affidavit

Former Chief of Parks Backs NYU Plan Foes* [Wall Street Journal]

Former City Parks Commissioner Signs On To Lawsuit Opposing NYU Expansion [NY1]

Former NYC Parks Commissioner Says City Illegally Gave Parkland To NYU [NYU Local]

NYU & Bloomberg in Cahoots [Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]

* The entire WSJ article is included below.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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]