NYU’s Village expansion plans are scary enough for Halloween

Protesters against New York University’s expansion plans hope to
demonstrate their anger at the famed annual Greenwich Village
Halloween parade, DNAinfo reported. The Greenwich Village Society for
Historic Preservation plans to submit designs to the 2011 NYU
Halloween design contest that illustrate NYU’s expansion plans as
scary threat. Members of the public participate in the contest to find
designs for trick-or-treat bags. “To so many people in this community,
there’s nothing scarier than NYU’s massive 20-year expansion plan and
the impact it would have on the Village,” said Andrew Berman, executive director at GVSHP.

On GVSHP’s submission, a giant blob in NYU’s
purple color rises threatningly above the Washington Square arch and
other Village buildings, with a speech bubble saying,”It’s coming for
our PARKS and LIGHT & AIR and open spaces.” An NYU spokesperson said
that the stunt distracted from serious dialogue about the university’s
academic needs and ways of bringing jobs to the community while
addressing neighbors’ concerns. NYU’s expansion plans still need
approval from Community Board 2, Assembly Speaker Scott Stringer, the
City Council and the Department of City Planning. [DNAinfo]