NYU-Polytech merger approved

 
The New York State Education Department’s Board of Regents approved a merger between New York University and Brooklyn’s Polytechnic University at its June board meeting today.

The controversial merger will make NYU the effective owner of Polytechnic University, which will be renamed the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and all of its real estate holdings. Opponents of the merger at Polytechnic have said NYU was most interested in acquiring the historic school’s Downtown Brooklyn property.

The Real Deal reported earlier this month on Polytechnic’s use of an old real estate appraisal in its merger negotiations with NYU. The appraisal from 2005 valued Poly’s real estate holdings at $213 million.

State Senator Kenneth LaValle, a Long Island Republican and critic of the deal, chaired the State Senate Committee on Higher Education, which addressed merger opponents’ concerns in a report last month. The report called Polytechnic’s actions “inconsistent with the duty of care that the Board owed to Polytech.”

Both schools’ trustee boards approved the merger this spring.

The Polytechnic Alumni Association was vocal in its opposition to the deal and approached various government offices. Their objections prompted LaValle’s investigation into the deal. TRD