NYU 2031: Crowd Calls on Stringer to Vote No
Last Thursday, GVSHP led a rally on the steps of City Hall calling on Borough President Scott Stringer to hold a public hearing before he votes on the NYU 2031 expansion plan, and to recommend its denial. A large crowd of local residents, NYU faculty, students, alumni and tenants, community groups from around the city, and many others came out to oppose the plan. You can watch videos of the rally on our YouTube page, parts one and two, or read the press release HERE.
Borough President Stringer’s vote is only advisory, but would be a huge influence as the NYU 2031 plan moves through the public review process. To date, thousands of people have attended public hearings and rallies calling for the plan to be rejected, and thousands have written letters, made phone calls, and signed petitions urging the plan be voted down. Borough President Stringer himself convened a Community Task Force for three years which called for NYU to consider alternative locations for its expansion plan. If you want to see the borough president hold a public hearing and vote the plan down, you can write his office a letter using the template on our website.
People who spoke against the plan and called on Borough President Stringer to vote no to NYU’s expansion in Greenwich Village included the following:
- Patrick Deer, NYU associate professor, representing NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan.
- Jenifer Rajkumar, Democratic District Leader from Lower Manhattan, representing Downtown Independent Democrats who would like to see NYU build in the Financial District instead of in small-scale Greenwich Village.
- Scott Sommer, New York Area Director for UAW Region 9A, which represents NYU adjunct professors and graduate employees.
- Christy Thornton from GSOC (NYU Graduate Workers Union)/UAW, UAW Region 9A.
- Beat Keerl, representing the SoHo Alliance.
- Peter Rea, associate professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Silver Towers resident.
- Wayne Conti, local small business owner.
- Anne Hearn, representing Washington Square Village Tenants Association.
- Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council.
- Ellen Horan, representing LaGuardia Corner Gardens.
- Corey Johnson, representing The Council of Chelsea Block Associations.
- Lesley Doyel, NYU alumna and co-president of Save Chelsea.
- Edith Charlton, chair of Union Square Community Coalition.
- Georgette Fleischer, chair and founder of Friends of Petrosino Square based in Little Italy.
We had a fantastic turnout on Thursday. When the borough president left City Hall that afternoon he was within earshot of hearing the crowd chanting, “Hold a hearing, vote NO!” We’ll soon know if he really heard our message if he calls a public hearing.
You can see more photos of the event on our Flickr page. Read the latest news about the NYU expansion plan on our website, including additional coverage of the event at City Limits, the New York Times, and Fox 5 News.