Such is the title of a November 14, 2010 article by New York Magazine, in which NYU President John Sexton’s plans to expand NYU are detailed. Writer Gabriel Sherman takes a fairly critical stance, but does offer both pro-development and dissenting viewpoints.
The article should be interesting to anyone in this class, as well as any of the master’s candidates in the NYU Archives and Public History program. As members of this program, we’re in a unique position. We work very closely with the Greenwich Village Historic Preservation Society, who form the main opposition to NYU’s expansion plan, and yet we are students at the offending institution. Where should our loyalties lie?
As Catherine pointed out in an earlier blog post, the Bohemian village of yore no longer exists today-struggling artists coming to New York now move to affordable neighborhoods like Bushwick. Yet it is still a beautifully preserved part of the city, and were NYU to get permission from the Landmarks Committee to build on a landmarked site (The plan to build a hotel near the I.M. Pei Silver towers has since been dropped), it would set a dange
rous precedent.
On the other hand, controversy erupts with almost any significant new construction occurs in a city. Sherman points out that Village residents hated the Pei towers when they were first commissioned in the 1960’s, but the towers were awarded landmark status in 2008.
What say you, class? Should NYU curtail its expansion plans in the city? Should we accept construction and change as part of the natrural path of a major city? Will, as the article says, downtown become a college town?
Researching Greenwich Village History 