Seeking a Far Broader Scope of Work for NYU's Core Project

On May 24, I submitted testimony at the New York City Department of City Planning's (DCP) hearing on New York University's (NYU) draft scope of work for a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for NYU's Core Project. I certainly appreciate the role NYU plays as an economic, cultural and intellectual engine for our City. Yet I am quite concerned about the impacts of the particular expansion NYU seeks to undertake, which would add approximately 2.5 million gross square feet of new uses to its core campus in historic Greenwich Village and for which it is seeking numerous discretionary actions, some of which would open the door for even greater development and change than NYU has proposed . I noted, however, that there would be no point in my saying in a different way what Manhattan Community Board 2 (CB2) has already said in its exhaustive and articulate testimony on this matter. I would be hard-pressed to add or subtract from such a well-reasoned and well-researched document, which may be accessed here. Thus, I urged DCP to ensure that the scope of work for NYU's Core project DEIS is expanded to study the impacts and alternatives CB2 has so capably detailed.