NYU Throws Community a Landmark Bone; Supports Designating Pei’s Towers
New York University announced its support today for the landmark designation of I.M. Pei’s Silver Towers, three tan 40-year-old buildings on a superblock in Greenwich Village. The designation would restrict changes and development on the tower sites, a move that comes as NYU is facing significant community opposition to its planned 6 million-square-foot, 25-year expansion.
NYU has previously expressed interest in putting new buildings in between the Silver Towers, and even as recently as last month the school held an open house that featured models of what development on the site could look like. In an e-mail, NYU spokesman John Beckman said such construction would still be possible after landmarking, although some of the proposed concepts would require going through the city’s landmarks approval process.
The powerful Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has pushed for landmark designation of the site, though it wants the entire superblock, including a gym and a supermarket on the edges, to receive protections.
The school had previously expressed resistance to the idea of landmarking the site, as Mr. Beckman told The Villager in 2004 that the school opposed GVSHP’s proposal.
“The designation of this entire block as a landmark would not seem to be architecturally defensible,” he said in The Villager. “Given that reality, one is left to wonder what the real motivation is for trying to employ the landmarking process. If there are people out there who want to argue for the architectural elegance of the Morton Williams supermarket, they should do so. But many people may wonder at the application of the landmarks process to such a structure."
408 East 79th Street
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Dear Observer:
As longtime residents of the Village and members of
the LaGuardia Corner Gardens, we view the current NYU
expansion plans with dismay.
This is the biggest assault on the values and quality
of life of the historic Village since Robert Moses
tried to ram the Lower Manhattan Expressway through;
fortunately he was stopped by Jane Jacobs and her
fellow Villagers.
Two issues are paramount: 1) preservation of
greenspace for the community and 2) preserving the
historic character of the Village.
1) Preservation of greenspace: Our community garden,
with its childrens' programs, community outreach, and
general improvement of air quality, is an absolute
necessity. It serves not only children, but the
elderly as well, who cannot travel to a botanic
garden.
2) The historic character of the Village. We are a
community of generally low-scale buildings, which
foster a sense of neighborliness, not a soulless
collection of high-rise towers which foster
estrangement and lack of participation in the civic
process. We owe it to the past and the future to
preserve the character of the Village.
It has been pointed out that other cities like Paris
manage to preserve their historic cores by relocating
major development to the outposts, developing
satellites to the historic core, not threatening what
needs to be preserved. Perhaps NYU and the Task force
and community board need to find a similar solution to
NYU's needs for mega-space.
We would like to see NYU develop another community
somewhere else using cutting-edge technology and
world-class architects (an opportunity here), instead
of ravaging an existing community. That would be an
opportunity to create something new rather than to
destroy something that works and already serves the
community.
Signed
Sara Jones-Chair
As longtime residents of the Village and members of
the LaGuardia Corner Gardens, we view the current NYU
expansion plans with dismay.
This is the biggest assault on the values and quality
of life of the historic Village since Robert Moses
tried to ram the Lower Manhattan Expressway through;
fortunately he was stopped by Jane Jacobs and her
fellow Villagers.
Two issues are paramount: 1) preservation of
greenspace for the community and 2) preserving the
historic character of the Village.
1) Preservation of greenspace: Our community garden,
with its childrens' programs, community outreach, and
general improvement of air quality, is an absolute
necessity. It serves not only children, but the
elderly as well, who cannot travel to a botanic
garden.
2) The historic character of the Village. We are a
community of generally low-scale buildings, which
foster a sense of neighborliness, not a soulless
collection of high-rise towers which foster
estrangement and lack of participation in the civic
process. We owe it to the past and the future to
preserve the character of the Village.
It has been pointed out that other cities like Paris
manage to preserve their historic cores by relocating
major development to the outposts, developing
satellites to the historic core, not threatening what
needs to be preserved. Perhaps NYU and the Task force
and community board need to find a similar solution to
NYU's needs for mega-space.
We would like to see NYU develop another community
somewhere else using cutting-edge technology and
world-class architects (an opportunity here), instead
of ravaging an existing community. That would be an
opportunity to create something new rather than to
destroy something that works and already serves the
community.
Signed
Sara Jones-Chair
c297t