From left: a map of the NYU proposal, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and NYU President John Sexton (click image for larger version of the map)

After last night’s open house unveiling of New York University’s 2031 expansion plan, critics are still reeling.
The school’s latest plans, which include building two so-called “superblocks” in the Washington Square Park neighborhood and possibly establishing a remote academic center on Governors Island, drew a glut of opposition from groups including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the East Village Community Coalition and the Washington Square Village Tenants Association, which all attended the open house.
Prior to the event yesterday, the sixth of its kind that the school has hosted, Andrew Berman, executive director for the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, held a press conference to speak out against NYU’s plans.
But he’s not stopping there. [more]

After almost one and a half years of hell, the central section of
Washington Square Park has just reopened, fully restored and looking
better than ever. Though there is still work to be done on the eastern
third of the park, as well as on the southwestern corner, the main work
has been completed; not in time, it is true, for this year’s graduation
ceremonies at New York University, but at least in time for the summer
season. That of course is when the locals, the tourists, the buskers
and the dealers come out of the woodwork and make themselves quite at
home in this most precious of urban parks. [more]