NYU Faculty Sue New York for Approving Expansion Plan

New York University faculty and neighborhood organizations sued New York City for approving a university plan to expand in Greenwich Village.

Violations overlooked in the plan include illegal manipulation of restrictive deeds, destruction of parkland and playgrounds and failure to adequately consider the environmental impact, according to a filing yesterday in state court in Manhattan.

NYU’s intended expansion, known as the Sexton Plan after the university’s president, John Sexton, is a $6 billion project comprising almost 2 million square feet, according to the filing.

“The City Planning Commission and the City Council bought NYU’s premise that they needed to expand in its core in the Village community in order to become a so-called world class university,” Mark Crispin Miller, an NYU professor of media and culture, said in a statement. “The Sexton Plan has nothing to do with education; it’s a land grab and nothing more, and the city failed to hold NYU accountable.”

In August, tenants of rent-stabilized apartments at Washington Square Village filed a suit in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan against NYU. The tenants sought a court order to stop the university from taking action to eliminate a two- acre park and a commercial strip and garden.

The case is Weinstein v. Harvey, 103844-2012, State Supreme Court of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Don Jeffrey in New York at djeffrey1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha in San Francisco at ‘ mhytha @bloomberg.net