N.Y.U. Expansion Causes Concern Among Residents

Courtney Crowder blogs for ABC News on Campus:  New York University calls itself “a private university in the public service.” But with the revelation that the university plans to increase its presence in New York City by 40 percent some residents find N.Y.U. to be less of a public servant and more of a public nuisance.
 
The university has yet to publically release a specific plan on their proposed growth, but has been fielding many calls on the subject since The New York Times released details on Tuesday night of the 2031 growth plan. According to the Times, the plan will include new classrooms, dormitories and offices in the Greenwich Village area (including adding a fourth building to the Silver Towers complex that was designed by I.M. Pei in the late 1960s), an engineering campus in downtown Brooklyn and another campus complete with housing on Governors Island.
 
Alicia Hurley, vice president for government affairs and community engagement at N.Y.U., has played a key role in the 2031 strategy since its inception.
 
“This effort started in 2006 by bringing in designers and architects,” Hurley told ABCNews.com. “Then in 2007, we started a community taskforce, working with the borough president of Manhattan, and over the last two years we have held a series of open houses where design teams and community members presented different ideas and concepts.
 
“What we are getting ready to unveil next month is the university’s strategy for growth, after having spent time listening to the community and taking into account our own academic needs.”
 
The New York Times reported that “the plan calls for adding 6 million square feet of space” but Hurley said that number “is a ceiling we set” – not the end goal, as the Times said.
 
The plan, she said, projects a growth that could be as high as 40 percent over 20 years or 6 million square feet. “We could grow that much, but it could also be much less. It is not a set growth of 6 million square feet.”
 
Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said his biggest fear was that N.Y.U. would control more of the Village neighborhood – the area that houses N.Y.U.’s core campus.
 
“The entire plan is being released next month,” Berman said, “But from what I read, N.Y.U. is planning on adding 3 million square feet of space in this neighborhood, which is more than doubling the rate of growth N.Y.U. has had in this neighborhood for the last couple of decades.”
 
N.Y.U. vice president of public affairs John Beckman said the strategy that N.Y.U. is releasing in April “places fully half of N.Y.U.’s growth outside of the Greenwich Village area.” Meaning that if N.Y.U. does grow by 6 million square feet, close to 3 million would be in the Village area.
 
Hurley added that part of the strategic planning formula was to acquire more buildings around the Washington Square Park area.
 
“We are trying to see if we can get approval to do more on our core, Washington Square campus,” Hurley said.
 
It’s a plan that worries Berman. “The fear is that what is one of the most iconic and beloved urban neighborhoods anywhere will turn into a company town, with N.Y.U. controlling more and more of the neighborhood,” he said. “N.Y.U. needs to be an ingredient in the neighborhood and not the presence.”
 
Hurley said that in April the university will show the public that over the last five years they have been successful in expanding and not harming the look of the community.
 
“When we reveal the strategy,” Hurley said, “we will show that in five years we have acquired around 800,000 square feet of space with minimal impact to the community and with the betterment of the university.”
 
Growth at N.Y.U. has been an ongoing process, as the university tries to raise its national profile and collegiate ranking. While the school is still extremely selective, accepting only 30 percent of applicants, N.Y.U. has tried to diversify and expand its student population over the last two decades.
 
Heidi Knight, a senior studying Spanish and television production and a member of multiple oncampus organizations, believes that N.Y.U. is trying to compensate for not being in the Ivy League.
 
“N.Y.U. is trying to be in a league of its own,” Knight said. “We get the applications numbers to continue expanding, but mainly [the 2031 plan] is overcompensation for not being an Ivy League school. With the money they are using for this plan, N.Y.U. could expand non-physically, but they want to be large just to be the large.”
 
Hurley countered the idea that the growth strategy has anything to do with raising the university’s profile.
 
“The university already has a terrific profile nationally and internationally,” Hurley said. “We just want to make sure that if somebody has a need or academic necessity that we are not limited by space concerns.”
 
The university will officially announce its 2031 strategy on April 14.