[Hypothalamus]

A long read, but explains the long fought battle. Click the title to read the entire article.



After A Long War, Can NYU and the Village Ever Make Peace?
Wednesday, March 19, 2014, by Eli Rosenberg

Currently, the fate of NYU 2031 is hung up in state courts. In January, a judge invalidated much of the expansion by ruling that the Bloomberg administration had wrongfully turned over three parks to the university—the alienation of public parkland must be authorized by the state legislature—a decision that both NYU and its opponents claimed as partial victories. The plaintiffs, a consortium of 11 local groups lead by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, and the Historic Districts Council, charge that the judge ruled incorrectly on the nature of a fourth park. The city joined the university in appealing the ruling, arguing that the parkland, as defined by the judge, was not in fact parkland.

The rezonings and other permits necessary for the plan had been approved under the strongly pro-development administration of Michael Bloomberg and shepherded through the council by Christine Quinn to the curiously one-sided vote of 44-1 in July 2012. Chin had decided to support the plan in exchange for some design concessions from NYU—a 17 percent reduction of the buildout's square footage above ground—and some kickbacks for the community, including a new preschool. (NYU's most recent newsletter featured a photo of the councilwoman at the new school, sitting on the floor with a toddler). But with the legal tangle underway—the plaintiffs secured the pro-bono counsel of Randy M. Mastro of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a renowned litigator in the city who is currently representing Chris Christie in the fallout from Bridgegate—NYU 2031 is no longer guaranteed to move forward, at least in its current iteration. All of which raises the question of why, after more than six years of struggle, NYU never came up with a plan to build anywhere else.

Map via the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.


Approved square footages for the buildings of NYU 2031.