Well, nobody failed to see this one coming. Once the NYU 2031 plans were approved, swiftly and nearly unanimously, by City Council two months ago, the next phase of the process was obvious: lawsuits, lawsuits, and more lawsuits. Thoughtfully, the plans' opponents decided to just combine all those lawsuits into one huge lawsuit. Yesterday, eleven groups joined together to file an Article 78, challenging the legality of the city turning over allegedly public land, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Crain's reports. The plaintiffs—NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Historic Districts Council, Washington Square Village Tenants' Association, East Village Community Coalition, Friends of Petrosino Square, LaGuardia Corner Gardens, Inc., Lower Manhattan Neighbors Organization, SoHo Alliance, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, and NoHo Neighborhood Association—also include eleven individuals. The suit is filed against the City Council, the DOT, and the New York State office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, so really, it may have been more helpful to list the organizations not suing or getting sued. NYU, although it has been forced to downgrade the size of the expansion, has yet to be impeded in any significant way despite massive opposition, and does not seem overly concerned. It remains to be seen whether or not the lawsuit will be able to halt or delay construction, which is slated to begin in 2014.
· 11 groups sue city to block NYU expansion [Crain's]
· NYU, City, State Sued Over NYU's Giant 2031 Expansion Plan {Gothamist]
· Previous NYU 2031 coverage [Curbed]
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