Villagers spar with NYU expansion team over city-owned park space

Greenwich Village residents are making a renewed push to keep three parcels of land out of the reach of an expanding New York University by transferring their control from the city’s Department of Transportation to the Department of Parks and Recreation, according to the Daily News. Community Board 2 has already orchestrated several unsuccessful attempts at the transfer, but this time, amid the school’s 2031 expansion plan, Villagers are stepping up their efforts, having already sent out petitions to Mayor Bloomberg, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. NYU has said it wants to take the blocks where the land parcels — including the Mercer Playground, LaGuardia Park and the Mercer-Houston Dog Run — are located and “knit them back into the city.” [NYDN]