Part Two of Three. [Part One] [Part Two]
The original NYU 2031 plan, as proposed in 2010, would bring radical redevelopment to the Northern and Southern Superblocks. Created through the process of “slum clearance,” in the 1950s and now primarily owned by the university, these large slabs of land sit in the heart of Greenwich Village, just above Houston Street, and house hundreds of faculty members and their families.
The proposal squeezed twisted, boomerang-shaped buildings into Washington Square Village, wiping away playgrounds and storefronts. A massive structure of stacked towers, referred to as the “Zipper Building,” would replace the Cole’s Sport Center. The grocery store at the corner of Bleeker and LaGuardia would disappear, and a new high-rise would take its place.
When revealed, the overall plan shocked faculty and community members, and helped catalyze the atmosphere of resentment and distrust that lead to the censures against John Sexton. In May of 2012, during the midst of budding contention and after receiving the city’s approval to build on the superblocks, Sexton created the University Space Priorities Working Group to evaluate the university’s space needs. Delivering the group’s charge, Sexton only attended the first meeting; afterward, the group made its conclusions and recommendations available to Sexton and the public at the same time.
Faculty members, sprinkled with a few student and administrative representatives, comprised the Working Group, which over the course of 18 months proved that a diverse and largely independent advisory group could arise within NYU’s structure.
Clik here to view.
Ted Madger
“I know a number of people who were approached turned down the assignment,” said Ted Madger, chair of both the Working Group and the Faculty Senators Council. “All I can do is assure you that some of the people who showed up we’re incredibly skeptical about the university’s plan and didn’t really look all that pleased that they had been given the assignment.”
A history of university committees sealed behind closed doors threatened the group’s legitimacy. Members of the Faculty Against Sexton Plan (FASP) and their supporters referred to the 26-member group as being a “handpicked committee,” intent on “rubber-stamping” the administration’s agenda. Deans of NYU’s various colleges appointed most of the representatives; nevertheless, the feelings of uneasiness — and even frustration — worked their way into the meetings and underlined many conversations.
“I don’t particularly like the administration. I voted no confidence,” said Larry Maslon, a theater professor who also served as chair of the group’s stewardship subcommittee. “I ran and pumped my fist and stood up at a town hall meeting.”
At one of these meetings, Maslon bumped into the dean of his school, the Tisch School of the Arts, who supported expansion. The two stood on opposite sides of the aisle, but when the Working Group came into formation, she asked him to serve, a request he obliged.
Clik here to view.
Larry Maslon
“I probably had the worst fight of anybody with a member of the committee,” said Maslon. “I had a screaming match with somebody. The next day we shook hands. We took each other out to breakfast. We learned each other’s viewpoints. I don’t necessarily want to spend my summer vacations with this person, but I respect this person, and I respect where they came from.”
Deliberation dominated the first few months, as the group debated the warrants of expanding at all. Ehrari and Blay [Part 1] sat as the only two student representatives and found themselves stressing the need for more student and life space. Disputes subsided over time, as an atmosphere of respect and receptiveness developed.
“We had a long meeting in December of 2012, just kind of before the break. A long dinner, a kind of airing out session,” noted Madger. “It was really, really helpful. We became a close knit group and we began to really trust each other.”
Rather than debate the warrants of the initial 2031 plan, the group started at the beginning, contemplating how and why to expand. Four principles denoting the group’s purpose and the university’s obligations guided the process. Months of data collection and interviewing commenced. The group’s website showed videos of their town halls and the minutes from each and every meeting. Transparency and an eagerness to develop judgments, independent of administrative desires, founded the group’s work.
“At one point half way through, I actually asked them to leave the room,” said Madger, referring to Bob Burn and Diane Yu, the Working Group’s two administrative representatives. Decisions needed to be made on what to recommend within the interim report, and Madger wanted to ensure each member felt comfortable expressing themselves and voting under the eyes of the administration. “And what was remarkable at that moment was that everyone was unanimous that Bob and Diane should stay in the room.”
By July of 2013, a comprehensive interim report was published, and eight months later, the group released its final report. According to the recommendation, construction on the Southern Superblock could alleviate the space needs of the university, bulging at the seams. Exact room configurations or architectural designs were not resolved, but the group provided clear guidance on how space should be allocated within an 817,000 to 899,000 square foot structure to be built on the current site of Coles Sports Center.
Estimated to cost just under a billion dollars, the proposed structure would house 100 faculty members, 500 students, and a new sports complex, which could fit 5,000 community members in case of emergency. General student life and study space captured between four to five percent of the recommended space. The group also advocated for the construction of an additional 80 general purpose classrooms, four black box theaters, and a large performance space for the performing arts.
Sexton welcomed the report with open arms.
“The Working Group’s report is an excellent document,” wrote John Sexton in an email, only hours after its release. Admitting he needed some time to work through the information, Sexton promised to send a more through response later. His initial feedback made special note of the Working Group’s teamwork. “The process has been a model of shared information, broad consultation and open and civil dialogue.”
The Working Group’s report did little to quell the opposition, who pointed out the building would be “the size of two Bobst Libraries, or four Kimmel Centers, or almost a third of the Empire State Building.”
“The regular complaint of people who live in the Silver Towers–I’m one of them–is that this is a historical site, but it’s not maintained now as that,” Harrington said [Part 1]. “And this massive building project — of course people question the capability to carry that out if they’re not maintaining the existent property to an ordinary level.”
Living in the superblocks’ faculty housing, most members of the Working Group experienced the unkempt quality of the site day in and day out. Erected following a “tower in the park” approach, flat open spaces surround the colossal architecture. Small garden beds and the installation of new benches constitute improvement projects, but the piecemeal projects only adorn a neglected space.
“The walk behind Coles’s, it’s full of dog crap, and it’s full of weeds,” said Maslon, “and really? Really? In Greenwich Village in 2014, that’s what it looks like? Can’t we do better than that, and my feeling is optimistically yes – we can do better and should do better.”
This week John Sexton announced the new, standing stewardship committee through an email sent to the entire university. Providing continued oversight over the superblocks, the group will listen to residents’ concerns before, during and after construction. Maslon will chair the body, which includes administrative representatives and members appointed by elected bodies within the university. An exact timeline for construction has yet to be confirmed, as an architect still needs to be hired and exact blueprints need to be nailed down.
“One of the Stewardship Committee’s early responsibilities will be advising on the process for selecting an architect for the Coles site,” wrote Sexton in his email. “That process will begin this summer. The expectation is that an architect will be selected by early fall.”
Both Madger and Maslon, along with many members of the working group call the superblocks home. For them, construction means sacrificing comfort in order to help drive the university forward.
“However uncomfortable and difficult and annoying and crappy it would be to sit through three, four, five years or construction, it was a sacrifice that was worth making to make the university a better place,” said Malson. “I’m not happy about it. I hate pneumatic drills worse than anything in the world, but [the superblock] could be improved by building the right kind of thing.”
[Part Three to Follow]