NYU established its NYU 2031 plan in 2010, to add 6 million square feet of academic space throughout the city by their bicentennial year of 2031. NYU proposes to build half of this square footage at two Washington Square super blocks in Greenwich Village. The Municipal Arts Society of City of New York opposes the plan because it believes that “the proposed development would needlessly diminish the quality of life for neighborhood residents and would set troubling precedents for similar approaches in other parts of the City.”
Recently NYU submitted a scaled down version of its plan, which reduced the height of one of the buildings - Mercer Building - from 248 feet to 162 feet, and reduced the density by 17 percent. For many in the local community, the project is still too big and it threatens to overwhelm the fabric of Greenwich Village. The plan is trying to address important principles set out by a task force which include, “to build on our own property, to avoid the use of eminent domain, to avoid displacement of existing residential tenants, to protect and enhance open public space and make it more accessible for public enjoyment”.
Watch a video "The University in the Neighborhood: Debating NYU's Expansion Plan"
Reference MAS NYC
For photos of proposed plans: MAS NYC
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