Despite some initial skepticism that Community Board 1 really wanted NYU to expand into Lower Manhattan, NYU officials now seem to be seriously considering the World Trade Center and other downtown sites. The Post got hold of a letter from NYU Vice President Lynne Brown that suggests the university is looking at WTC's Tower 5, on the site of the Deutsche Bank building. The Port Authority wants an office tower or a hotel and housing on the site, a match for NYU's plans that sounds almost too good to be true.
What the Tower 5 space wouldn't do, though, is eliminate NYU's desire to build a neighbor-enraging 40-story tower on Bleecker Street. Did we say neighbor-enraging? Yeah?the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has put some rage on its calendar for Monday night, when the building will face its first public meeting.
GVSHP talking points against the tower include the fact that it would need zoning changes for its proposed use as part faculty housing, part hotel. It would also require "unprecedented approvals" from the Landmarks Preservation Commission (because it's part of the landmarked Silver Towers complex) and would be built on land that is partly public space. Oh, and it would be tall. Just how tall? GVSHP has animated the plans to demonstrate!
· NYU turns its eye to Lower Manhattan for its university expansion plans [NYP]
· NYU coverage [Curbed]
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