• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Judge Rules Against NYU Expansion Plan

January 15, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

NYU-superJumboIn an important legal ruling, NYS Supreme Court Judge Donna Mills found that elements of the proposed New York University expansion plan would build on land which has long been used as public parkland, although not officially designated as such. The NYU project proposed between West Houston and West Third Streets, has, according to Sam Roberts of the New York Times “arguably generated more rancor than any other project in the neighborhood since the proposed expressway in the 1960s.”

It is only possible to build on parkland in New York State with the approval of the State Legislature. The legal action opposing the expansion which Justice Mills ruled on was brought against the City of New York by a coalition of community groups, neighborhood residents and NYU faculty. 

The New York City Historic Districts Council (HDC), a plaintiff on the lawsuit, welcomed the judge’s ruling, equating it with the spirit of community preservation pioneered by the legendary Jane Jacobs.  “Jane Jacobs managed to upend Moses’s decision to turn Washington Square Park into a thoroughfare and plow through Lower Manhattan and the judge is honoring her spirit,” said Simeon Bankoff, HDC’s executive director.

Henry J. Stern, a former parks commissioner added: “It’s nice when the community wins now and then to put the fear of God into the university so they can’t ignore the legitimate community interest. But if Moses couldn’t break the Village, why shouldn’t they run roughshod over N.Y.U.?”

The City has not yet formal responded to the ruling.

For more information:

The Villager: http://thevillager.com/2014/01/08/judge-says-city-broke-the-law-by-approving-n-y-u-superblocks-plan/

New York Post: http://nypost.com/2014/01/07/judge-says-nyc-broke-the-law-in-nyu-expansion-plan/

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/nyregion/judge-blocks-part-of-nyus-plan-for-four-towers-in-greenwich-village.html?ref=nyregion

Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/nyu-expansion-plan-halted-article-1.1569150

Bloomberg News: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-07/new-york-university-expansion-plan-blocked-by-judge.html

Crain’s New York: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140107/REAL_ESTATE/140109910

Photo (provided by NYU):  New York University expansion plan includes the 26 story Zipper Building at the bottom left, proposed to be the first built.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Historic Preservation, Manhattan, New York City, New York University, NYC, NYU

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Help Finish Our 2022 Fundraising

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Edythe Ann Quinn on Poetry: Stairway from Heaven
  • Ellen Brown on How Does A Land Trust Protect A Watershed? One Parcel At A Time
  • Nell Rapport on Transforming The Niagara Falls Experience
  • Jimmy on World War II POW Camps in Upstate New York
  • Paul Huey on Advocates: Pass The Unmarked Burial Site Protection Act
  • NOEL A SHERRY on Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
  • NOEL A SHERRY on Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
  • Jim Fox on Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
  • Big Burly on Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
  • MATTHEW J BURDEN on When Did New York Stop Speaking Dutch?

Recent New York Books

battle of harlem hights
Ladies Day at the Capitol
voices of wayne county
CNY Snowstorm book front cover
The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era
Expanded Second Edition of Echoes in These Mountains
historic kingston book
Buffalo Sports cover re-re-sized.indd
With an Ax and a Rifle Vol I

Secondary Sidebar

preservation league
Protect the Adirondacks Hiking Guide