By Allison Volpe

When you think about NYU and Washington Square Park, what comes to mind is the actual college campus that has been created within the bounds of the East Village. NYU is constantly expanding, sometimes to the dismay of community boards, art organizations, historical societies and even its own faculty members. Despite all of the controversy that can surround their actions, they have created quite a community. While inhabiting the same city as so many other colleges, NYU has been able to create something unique ­— made up of multiple buildings, each with a unique history. What the school has created is vastly different from the majority of college campuses in NYC. Below are some historical and architectural facts about this “campus”, gleaned from a recent tour through the neighborhood with the Historic Districts Council. (Most of these facts you likely weren’t aware of,)

• The first thing that comes to mind when about Washington Square Park is obviously the famous Washington Square Arc. Created in 1889 to celebrate the Centennial of George Washington’s inauguration as president of the U.S. Constructed of only plaster and wood, it was later converted to a permanent marble arch. It is modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

• NYU used to have a Bronx campus, which was originally built in 1894. In 1973 NYU sold the campus to the City University of New York — it has been the campus of Bronx Community College ever since.

• Edgar Allen Poe lived in a Row House at 85 West 3rd Street. The construction of NYU’s Furman Hall, which was needed to expand their law school, required for the residence to be destroyed. NYU compromised by agreeing to preserve the façade, but actually failed to do so. Not one of the old bricks was used to construct the new structure, and externally it does not resemble a remnant of a 19th century house.

• Facadism is a practice that has been frequently applied to buildings surrounding the park. This practice is to

please both property developers who need to develop properties for modern uses, and preservationists who wish to preserve buildings of historical interest.

• In the Courtyard of NYU’s Silver Towers apartment buildings on Bleecker Street, there is an enlargement of a sculpture by Picasso from his 1934 series of busts. It was created using sandblasted cement, and was also declared a landmark in 2008.

• On a drearier note, NYU’s Elmer Holmes Bobst Library has been the site of three suicides in the past 10 years. Recently, floor to ceiling metal barriers were added to prevent any future deaths.

• NYU owns ‘superblocks’ which are bordered by West 3rd Street, West Houston Street, Mercer Street, and LaGuardia place. Superblocks are much larger than a traditional city block, with greater setbacks for buildings.

• NYU is currently in the midst of yet another massive and controversial plan for expansion, named NYU 2031. To find the details of the plan, you can head to NYU website located at: http://www.nyu.edu/nyu2031/nyuinnyc/.

If you’re interested in taking a tour and learning about the architecture and history of one of your favorite New York neighborhoods, visit AIA.org.

“Architecturally,” said Blodgett, “it’s one of the best.”

“A lot of the Village is gone,” he added. “A lot is left, but if it’s not preserved, a lot more will be gone.” At this he indicates a nearby hole in the scenery where a building was destroyed six years ago by developers who are still undecided on how to proceed.

Blodgett is but one of many community members who worries that the impending rezoning of Hudson Square, which has yet to be voted on by the City Council, will have negative fallout for surrounding areas, as well as the Hudson Square area itself, without the necessary safeguards. Blodgett fears further destruction for the nearby South Village. There’s no doubt the Hudson Square rezoning will happen, he says, but as far as the particular repercussions, everyone’s unsure and wary of what to expect.

The plan to rezone Hudson Square into a more “mixed use” area was discussed at the only City Council hearing on the issue last week, after passing the City Planning Commission in late January. A study issued by the Department of City Planning in 2002 recommended rezoning the area for optimal residential use, retention of current manufacturing zoning and in order to guide future growth and land use in the area. The rezoning plan, which would impact City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s district, has seen backlash by groups like the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), which fears the subsequent impact on the South Village.

Some worry development in the area will be out of context with Hudson Square’s character, while developers meanwhile stress the importance of taller buildings for greater affordability and insist contextual appropriateness is still achievable. David Reck, the former chairperson of Community Board No. 2’s Land Use Committee told The Villager, however, residents of Hudson Square are overwhelmingly in favor of the rezoning.

Those in favor of rezoning say it brings promise of more affordable housing and open, recreational areas. Trinity Real Estate, which owns 40 percent of property in the area according to the Wall Street Journal, says the rezoning efforts would transform the area from what is essentially a deserted ghost town at night into a more livable and popular social hub. On its official website, Trinity explains: “The neighborhood’s continued evolution is threatened by its antiquated zoning…Trinity and its neighbors can protect the neighborhood’s historic character while helping it evolve into a unique and vibrant community.”

Community members and advocates for the preservation of the South Village fear the rezoning of Hudson Square will bring spillover and ambitious developers to the Village, which has not been transformed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). They urge the Council not to approve the rezoning until the South Village has been appropriately transformed. The city is stalling on the decision, say GVSHP representatives, because of pressure from both sides. Many residents and community members want to preserve the Village’s aesthetic and history, while developers see it, like Hudson Square, as an ideal market, ripe for rebuilding.

Blodgett says Speaker Quinn, who did not make an appearance at the City Council hearing, has been all but unresponsive on the issue.

While the LPC has stalled on landmarking the area for years, advocates hope the rezoning plan will perhaps serve as a catalyst to keep the Village intact.

However, Blodgett describes a paradox. Those who visit and live in the Village appreciate it for its character, but this popularity is what drives developers to the area, he explains.

“It’s sad to imagine,” he said, of an area he knows as a historic gem. “It could be destroyed.”

The City Council will cast its vote on the rezoning in March.

Laurence Tamaccio lives near the West Side Highway, the part that exposes its aged, rusty underbelly and concrete legs, held high above Riverside Park South. In his view, it’s an eyesore—and he wants to cover it with vines and waterfalls.

“Seeing it on a daily basis, it started to sort of wear me down aesthetically,” he said.

Tamaccio, an architect who describes his job as “making things that look awful look better,” posted slides of his High Line-esque vision on YouTube. Trellises and ivy cover the highway’s pillars from 61st Street to 72nd street in the digital image of Tamaccio’s dream.

Tamaccio, who lives on Riverside Boulevard, has launched a petition to achieve community support, though it hasn’t circulated widely yet.

Community Board 7 passed a resolution to support “continued exploration,” but Tamaccio says, “The community is not as aware as it needs to be.”

Community Board 7 Chair Mark Diller said it’s safe to say that no one finds the highway attractive. He added, “I have not heard other proposals to beautify the highway.” He has heard, though, efforts to keep the highway elevated for people who use the park beneath it.

Heather Lipton of 140 Riverside Blvd. said, “Vines would be gorgeous,” though she hadn’t considered the highway to be an issue before.

“After a while you kind of get used to it,” said Leslie Pilcher, 31, of West 63rd Street.

Tamaccio doesn’t believe painting the highway would be enough.

John Hart, an artist who has lived nearby for over 20 years, disagrees. “A light blue would be better,” he said, to “blend it in with the sky.” The vines on the structure, he said, “would draw more attention to it.”

Jerry Julian, 45, who has lived in the area for several months, said he agrees with Tamaccio that the structure needs to be reworked. “I would love to do what Boston did with the Big Dig and put it underground,” he said.

There have been efforts to rebuild the highway underground. It was originally elevated from 72nd Street to Chambers Street but a downtown section collapsed in 1973, leading to a project called “Westway,” which died after years of controversy. Then there was a plan for the Trump (later Extell) developers to rebuild the park and bury the highway but necessary federal transportation funds have yet to be acquired.

“People are under the impression that ultimately it’s going to be underground,” Tamaccio said. There is space for a tunnel, but after Hurricane Sandy sent Hudson River water onto the park, Tamaccio thinks it’s less likely the tunnel will ever be built.

There are skeletal ramps from the old highway, protruding from the new one above the park south of 72nd Street. Tamaccio sees these shelf-like pieces as potential waterfall areas.

He says the skeletal strips of old highway have preferable structure, upheld by arches. The elevated track for the 7 train in Queens also has a pleasing pattern of arches, he says, but most of the highway over Riverside Park South seems like a “patch-up” job.

His plan has grown to include gray water catching systems to make use of drainage pipes and a year-round café to assist with funding—though after Sandy, the café should be elevated, he said.
Drawing from how the High Line came about, Tamaccio says the next stage is to form a nonprofit organization. He’s talking to experts, officials and collaborators.

“It’s my community and it affects thousands of other people,” he said, adding, “It’s part of the Manhattan greenway.”

The Standard Hotel. Photo by Jim.henderson, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Here’s one thing you don’t want to see on your romantic stroll along the High Line in the sunset: a pile of dead birds.

“It’s a fantastic park, but it does pose some form of hazard, because it will draw birds in and bring them into these areas that are exposed to a lot of glass,” said architect Guy Maxwell, the focus of  Part Two of WNYC’s “A Clear And Present Danger: How Glass Kills Birds,” which aired on Thursday.

Glass-walled buildings reflect surrounding sky, clouds and trees, Maxwell explained, which tricks birds into thinking their flight path is clear. They fly straight into the windows at full speed.

The numerous glass buildings that surround the High Line – including the Standard Hotel, designed by Maxwell’s partner at Manhattan’s Ennead Architects, Todd Schliemann  — illustrates the growing volume of glass buildings throughout the city. This modern architectural trend brightens offices and makes for stunning exteriors, but it comes with a cost: according to WNYC, millions of birds across North America crash into glass windows every year.

Maxwell wants to do something to change this. He has devoted himself to designing bird-friendly buildings for Ennead. “The notion that a building that we’ve built is causing harm is really troubling to me,” he told WNYC.

Maxwell’s challenge is coming up with a product that effectively breaks up reflection and is also aesthetically pleasing. Glass won’t sell if it looks bad, so simple bars over windows are out. One possibility is German-made Ornilux Mikado glass, which Maxwell is currently experimenting with at New York’s Vassar College. A chaotic pattern of lines is painted in the glass with a substance that reflects ultraviolet light — something birds see far better than humans do.

WNYC noted that little funding exists for researching safer glass designs, so it may be a while before NYC has a “miracle glass” that keeps birds safe from our ever-climbing skyline. Until we do, look out above.

Last year, art teacher Nick Kozak noticed that faculty members kept talking about updating the plaza, but no one had any specific ideas. He had always wanted to implement an architecture unit in his studio arts class, and after asking the principals of each of the schools on campus what they envisioned, he decided to give his students the task of redesigning the space.

Mike Lin, a student at Manhattan Hunter High School for Science, conceived this design for the campus plaza.

Kozak was most excited to present his class with a reality-based project.

“This is actually being discussed, this is not just some lesson conceived out of nothingness,” he recalled telling his students. “I wanted them to go through the steps that an actual architectural firm would have to go through.”

Kozak broke the class into groups of three and asked them to think about all aspects of the space, keeping in mind that it would serve not just their high school, but all of the schools in the building, as well as the community.

Principal Susan Kreisman said the goal is to create a “space that announced both who inhabited the building, which really hasn’t existed, and also a space which was inviting and welcoming.”

Some basic upgrades are also needed. Benches in the plaza are worn down and arranged so that a larger space cannot be created.

“That front plaza is horrific. [The benches have] been the bane of my existence since it was built,” said Council Member Gale Brewer, who has supported the project. “It’s all in recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King, but you’d never know it.”

Brewer, along with the schools’ principals and the firm Handel Architects LLP, judged the students’

Benches are worn down and arranged so that a larger space cannot be created in the plaza. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

designs in March. The plans were evaluated for aesthetics, the use of green technology, unification of the space, use of open areas and other criteria. Some ideas included a hydroponic wall (similar to the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center), bringing in large boulders for visual interest and seating, and making the front entrance more handicap accessible.

Many of these suggestions have been incorporated into the recommendations Brewer’s office has sent to the School Construction Authority, seeking funds for the renovation.

While students expected a quick turnaround on the project, Kozak has reminded them that it’s a long process. Still, he was impressed with their level of engagement and is thrilled to see the proposals moving forward.

“It really went beyond the surface of just a place for people to walk around,” he said of the students’ designs. “It made me swell with pride.”