Save the Village
NYU wants to expand its presence, but should it?
There are lots of things that make it easy to feel at least a little bit guilty about being an NYU student, and NYU 2031 is probably close to the top of that list.
Yet, unlike some other issues, like the Chick-Fil-A debacle three years ago, this one isn’t so black-and-white.
From NYU’s perspective, this plan is not simply beneficial, but entirely necessary. NYU’s growing student body has placed huge stress on the university’s current infrastructure.
Franco Forti (CAS ’15), one of the few students who was in any way involved with the project, said: “There [are] large deficiencies related to space.
“NYU has 25% less space available per student for student activities. ”
And with respect to student housing, Franco said NYU simply “doesn’t have enough beds”.
From the research project on which Franco worked
To accommodate increased need, redevelopment presents itself as one of few options.
NYU 2031 also plans to significantly increase the university’s environmental friendliness by modernizing buildings and utilizing natural sunlight in redeveloped buildings, alongside a new cogeneration facility. These aspects of the plan could cut the emissions of certain buildings by 95%, in some cases, and generally allow the university to achieve higher LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ratings.
Despite these positive goals, the plan has been widely resisted by members of the community and justifiably so in many cases.
Though NYU 2031 might reduce NYU’s environmental footprint, residents (and faculty and students, to be fair) do not want to live (and work, and study) in what is essentially a large construction zone.
Fears over the destruction of public spaces remain relevant despite NYU’s attempts to placate residents with the promise of developing new public spaces. Moreover, there are concerns that the new buildings will be architecturally jarring and disruptive to the natural ‘look’ of the neighborhood. Though many supporters of NYU 2031 would claim that these concerns are minor, the lifelong residents of the West Village nevertheless have the right to remain attached to their neighborhood and its features. Beyond that, they don’t need to care about NYU’s development.
In the end, this is a complex issue and it would be quite narrow-minded to completely ignore either side.
While NYU has often overstepped its boundaries and encroached upon its surroundings, painting it as an entity that is hell-bent on consuming everything in its path without addressing its legitimate spatial (often self-inflicted) concerns is unfair. Similarly, though the Sexton administration has found it easy to dismiss members of the community as Luddites who are afraid of change, ignoring the fears of lifelong residents and small business owners that their neighborhood might become a disruptive Midtown-esque hell of construction is fundamentally wrong.
Currently, NYU holds the upper hand, having won the approval of the courts while making slight concessions to community groups. Challenging building permits stands out as one way for community groups to continue resistance to NYU 2031, but this is unlikely to have any real influence. At this point, the person with the greatest capacity to change or alter John Sexton’s plans for NYU and the West Village is his successor, Andrew Hamilton.