New York University reached an agreement with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer on Tuesday to decrease its massive expansion through Greenwich Village by 19 percent.
The university originally proposed adding by its 200th birthday in 2031 more than 2.2-million-square-feet of space to its Greenwich Village campus, including new classrooms, faculty offices, an athletic center and housing.
Now, NYU officials and Stringer agreed to reduce the planned size of four buildings by more than 16 percent and the whole plan by more than 19 percent.
The original NYU 2031 plan
Instead of a 14-story building on the southern block shown in a rendering of the original plan, NYU will build a seven-story school. On the northern block, two triangular academic buildings, originally planned at 14 stories and eight stories, will be slimmed down too.In a Tuesday statement, NYU says, "Our proposals have gone through multiple changes over the years we've been involved in the planning process. 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."
While Mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly backed the plan for the first time on Monday, Greenwich Village residents have fiercely opposed the plan.
Two months ago, the local community board voted unanimously against the project, after opponents claimed the expansion would change the neighborhood's character.
"It's like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," said Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society For Historic Preservation. "It still does not belong here. It still would be totally overwhelming to the neighborhood."
Stringer is planning a news conference Wednesday, where he is expected to voice approval for the reduced expansion.
The expansion plan needs to be passed by the City Planning Commission and the City Council.