Borough President’s Compromise Not Enough to Sway Public Opinion

On Wed. afternoon (4/25), the City Planning Commission (CPC) held a public hearing at the Museum of the American Indian to hear both concerns and support over the NYU Sexton Plan – a project that would radically expand the NYU campus over a 20 year period.

CPC members heard the raised, and sometimes distressed voices of community members who were against the plan, as the standing room only “crowd” gave raucous applause to members speaking out against the expansion, and provided a chorus of hisses and even outraged shouts to those advocating it.

Members of NYU Faculty weighed in on both sides of the coin. Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts, advocated on behalf of the plan, citing a lack of performance space and the need to remain competitive as universities around the country put additional pressure on the already taxed School of the Arts.

“We’ve achieved at the highest level and contributed to the creative economy of downtownNew Yorkin spite of the fact that Tisch’s Institute for Performing Arts has, for years, struggled with inadequate, obsolete, sometimes dangerous, and cramped facilities…Our existing facilities are at a crisis point. In order to continue to thrive, we’ve embarked on an ambitious plan to design the world’s finest performing arts training center as part of the 2031 plan.”

Other faculty members were not so supportive of the expansion, which makes The Tisch School seem more like an outlier when compared to many other departments and faculty at the university. However, less than one third of NYU faculty have chosen to publicly align themselves.

Despite concerns over anonymity, a senior faculty member, who was introduced improperly,  spoke out against the Sexton Plan,  urging the CPC to say “N-O” until they “K-N-O-W” more.

The CPC's Public Hearing on the NYU Expansion (Sexton Plan) drew the full attention of the maximum capacity auditorium at the Museum of the American Indian.

“The NYU leadership would have you believe that the university can’t fulfill its educational mission and be a global leader without anEmpire State Building’s worth of square footage squeezed into a few blocks. But the NYU team pushing this plan does not speak for its faculty; for we, too, are the university.”

“As of today, 20 academic departments and programs, including the Department of Economics (which might know something about something) have passed resolutions against this plan overwhelmingly.”

More than anything, however, the public hearing revealed a poor dissemination of information. Many attendees representing NYU and its expansion plan seemed unable to adequately describe different phases of the plan when pressed by the commission, and there was also an apparent disconnect between those who spoke on behalf of the  Sexton plan  sans “Stringer’s Compromise” and those who spoke exclusively of it – which NYU President Sexton agreed to on Apr. 11.

Speaking on behalf of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation (GVSHP), lawyer Randy Mastro urged the CPC to consider the usage of space, and the impact it will have on Greenwich Village.

“This commission is being asked to approve over 2.2 million gross square feet of construction over the next nineteen years that will fundamentally change the character of one of our city’s most beloved neighborhoods – Greenwich Village…yet hundreds of thousands of square feet of this project are not for academic purposes,”

“As a result of this construction, this neighborhood will have to accommodate up to 2,000 new residents, and find itself flooded with more than 10,000 new people visiting the area every day. It will substantially reduce the amount of open space available for community use in an area already lacking such open space.”

Members of the Public Hearing show their opposition to the Sexton Plan

While nearly all of the community members present at the hearing were opposed to the Sexton plan, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Director of Land Use, Brian Cook, spoke on behalf of Stringer, bringing to light many of the Borough President’s amendments – some of them for the first time to the CPC.

“The office [of the Borough President] has maintained a philosophy of seeking ways to strike a balance to ensure that development, when it is occurring, does not overrun or take away things and hurt the community in ways that we can prevent,”

And as he outlined the Borough President’s amendments, Cook commented on the President’s decision to dissuade NYU from building “below-grade” below street level) around parks was perhaps the most popular opposing point made at the hearing.

“The clear direction we heard from the community was taking the below-grade of those parks [Northern Mercer St. Park, Western Mercer St. Park] and tearing out the old trees and what existed, even if they were eventually replaced was an unacceptable line.”

However, when pressed by the City Planning Commission  and the community for information regarding the concessions NYU was unwilling to make at President Stringer’s urging, Mr. Cook declined to comment.

Members of the City Planning Commission, including Chairperson Amanda Burden

As it stands, the City Planning Commission has, at the present time, many more questions than it does answers. In light of the tremendous public opposition to the project, as well as the points raised by several community speakers, it does not appear likely that the CPC will approve the Sexton Plan without at least first requesting a full disclosure and review of Stringer’s Compromise.

“It’s  important that the commission to hear the modifications that the borough president recommended,” said City Planning Commission Chair Amanda M. Burden.

On April 11, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer gave NYU a show of measured support by detailing his recommendations for modifications to the university’s proposed Greenwich Village expansion, a 20-year plan currently slated for completion in 2031.

“N.Y.U. must coexist with Greenwich Village and not overwhelm the neighborhood,” Stringer said in an interview disclosing the deal. “This strikes an important balance.”

According to the New York Times, who originally reported Stringer’s plans on Apr. 10, NYU has agreed to President Stringer’s provisions, which include a scale back of the Mercer Building expansion (the location currently housing NYU’s athletic center) to 162 vertical feet, a number that is equal to other Washington Square Village buildings. Additionally, NYU will erect four new buildings in the area.

“The density of this project has come down almost 20 percent,” Stringer said. “We’ve saved playgrounds, we’ve preserved public strips as parkland, we’ve eliminated the temporary gym.”

Stringer’s recommendations come at the heels of a unanimous Feb. 23 rejection of the expansion by Community Board 2. Approval for the expansion must now pass on to the City Planning Commission and the full city council. Though a final verdict will not be rendered until Summer 2012, the New York Times has reported that Stringer will urge for “conditional approval” at a press conference.

With 370,000 square feet cut from the project, NYU feels it has made fair concessions to accommodate and quell residential concerns regarding the project. Indeed, as NYU Spokesperson John Beckerman noted, NYU’s plans for expansion “have gone through multiple changes over the years.” Stringer also preserved a beloved playground, with NYU agreeing not to destroy it until another has been built to replace it.

“From the beginning, our focus has been to achieve an outcome that will meet the University’s academic space needs in a way that will keep NYU strong — and we’re comfortable we’re still well on that path — while addressing the concerns of our neighbors.” said Beckman in a statement.

However, the New York Times is reporting that Stringer’s endorsement is “considered important because he is planning to run for mayor and has close ties to the liberal activist groups in and nearGreenwich Village.” In addition, they say, Stringer’s stance with NYU’s expansion is consistent with his existing track record (including expansions atColumbiaUniversity and Fordham University).

From an economic standpoint, Stringer estimates that the NYU construction will “create at least 9,500 jobs in the area.” And as for construction, the WNYC reports that NYU has promised to “limit construction to between8 a.m.and4:30 p.m.and that weekend construction would be “limited,” but did not elaborate further.”

UPDATE: By Wednesday Afternoon (4/11/12), The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and members of the NYU Faculty had made public their retention of international lawfirm Gibson Dunn to aid in their pursuit against the city’s land-use process.

Mark Crispin Miller, a member of NYUFASP, said “Although we have raised many good-faith and analytically based concerns about the Sexton Plan, it is clear that NYU will not engage us on the merits. It is also quite clear that – as a negotiating tactic in the land-use process – they have certified a plan that involves much more extensive, and far more concentrated, development than is necessary or rational. It is a shame that some elected officials have voiced support for the plan, or some modified version of it, without seriously considering the community’s concerns. We need to make sure our voices are heard and fairly represented, which is why we have now turned to Gibson Dunn. We did not authorize any elected official to ‘compromise’ on our behalf, which convinced us we need a powerful voice speaking for us.”

According to a statement, Gibson Dunn partners Randy Mastro and Jim Walden will be leading the matter, as they represented elected officials, historic-preservation organizations, and community groups in several other high-profile, land-use matters. They will be working with Alison Greenberg, a noted litigator and former member of  Community Board 2 Manhattan.

UPDATE (4/19/12): Opponents of the NYU 2031 Expansion Plan re-doubled their efforts against the University when, on Apr. 19, they called for renewed awareness concerning NYU’s plans. Members of organizations, as well as residents of Greenwich Village are planning a march and rally for Apr. 20, where they aim to gain further support in their efforts against the NYU expansion. Over 15 organizations and leaders have pledged their support, including Community Board 2, SoHo Alliance, Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick, NYS Senator Tom Duane and NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan.

A public hearing, to be held by the City Planning Commission (CPC) is scheduled for Apr. 25 at the National Museum of the American Indian