Gothamist: NYU Further Alienates The Neighbors

thirdnostril

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:42:29 -0500

I worked sound at a benefit at NYU's Bobst library commemorating their Billion Dollar Campaign (that was actually the name of it, the classist bastards). They overshot their goal by several million. The reason for the fundraising? None, in particular. They just thought they should be mega-rich. Which they are, and anyone who says different is lying or dumb. NYU is taking over the East Village like a spreading cancer. Yapping ninnies? Yup, sounds like what I hear every time I pass one of the many overlarge NYU dorms that now dot the Village. In fact, I think it's overly kind. NYU "students" gain admission with Daddy's money, refer to life-long Manhattan residents as "townies" (laughable as that is, seeing these callow nitwits come from Bumfuck, Long Island), and use our streets as their personal vomitorium. Their academic prestige is for the most part bought and paid for, and their arrogance is absolutely stomach-turning, as you can see from the NYU trash that have stooped to defending the monster on this page. NYU is the Reagan era commemorated in a university. "Blighted" Village? Burn in hell, yuppie scum!

thirdnostril

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:41:16 -0500

mothra

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 12:43:50 -0500

Yes, yes, yes 'as,' NYU does indeed have gobs of cash. Mountains. If you don't think a school run like NYU that charges tuitions like it does doesn't have boatloads of moolah in the bank, well, I've got a bridge to sell you.

REALITY CHECK

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 12:38:44 -0500

as, Why is no one complaining about the poverty in NYC? Why is no one complaining about our healthcare system? why is no one complaining about the war in Iraq? People have been complaining about that blue building on Norfolk for a long time, check the archives. This particular thread is about the NYU building, which probably explains WHY WE'RE DISCUSSING THE NYU BUILDING, kiddo. You're definitely sharp as a tack.

as

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 09:00:47 -0500

why is no one complaining about the blue building on norfolk? the 16 story building on 13th street? the 20 story building on 13th and 3rd? nyu does NOT NOT NOT have gobs of cash. but it needs buildings. lets wait for a better rendering before passing judgement

eric

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:40:06 -0500

if nyu didnt build an tall ugly structure some other developer would have.

Godzilla vs mothra

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:38:40 -0500

I think it means it looks like the buildings Godzilla would smash while fighting megatron or that monster born as a result of pollution. Very drab and grey. I don't think there are anymore Crack houses south of 96th street in manhattan and certainly none in the West village. And, NYU wouldn't build a dorm near the FDR projects so these ninnys would be safe.

msvagabond

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:13:00 -0500

as a former nyu student whose beloved program was evicted from our space and displaced to an off-campus 11th street cubicle office building, this news doesn't surprise me at all. aside: what's this phrase supposed to mean? "this new one is "like something out of a Japanese horror movie" one critic says)"

Ethan

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 23:36:41 -0500

tg, I personally like the West Village because it is low, has quirky street layouts and nice tree lined streets. I have no problems with modern architecture and tasteful new buildings would enhance any neighborhood. Crackhouses are bad. People who complain about gentrification while they live off trust funds and develop their street cred in "edgy" neighborhoods are pretty pathetic. But that still doesn't mean that NYU and other developers have to build ugly highrises. I don't think people are generally looking for a Disney style reconstruction of 1950s era Greenwich Village. Buildings that improve or at least maintain the quality of the neighborhood aesthetic, modern or not, would be far better. Is it really that unreasonable to ask that new buildings have greater than zero aesthetic value?

tg

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 22:42:26 -0500

Wah wah. Things change. Never ceases to amaze me how so many "progressives" in NYC want nothing to change from their idealized vision of the way things should be (i.e. historical recreations of West Village, etc.). Maybe you can get some legislation in place that for every property NYU puts up that have to install a run-down tenament crackhouse within a few blocks. You know, in keeping with the character of the neighborhood and all... or is that not the character you meant?

pugsley

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 20:42:42 -0500

the east village used to be zoned for short buildings. whoever the council person is for this district needs to be ousted for allowing all these stinky highrises in the neighborhood.

dob watcher

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 19:36:40 -0500

All good points, Garth. All they need to do is cap some fixtures, relocate some sprinklers and boom, expensive studio apartments. And we need you to spread the word on Scarano (who I can't believe is honored by the AIA, (I may be wrong and probably am but he's honored in something) and Singer.

Ethan

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 19:25:01 -0500

Ethan: I'd encourage you to check out NYU's (relatively) new Furman Hall. It's one of the nicest buildings of the last 50 years within a two-block radius of Washington Square Park. Fair enough. Although the law, business and medical schools are almost seperate from the rest of the institution, your point is well taken. But I'll admit, my view is slanted by overwhelmingly negative opinion of the NYU administration. Who needs facts when you have opinions, anyway?

villager

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 19:09:31 -0500

NYU deserves to be singled out because they probably haven't built a building that wasn't an eyesore since the sixties. Ethan: I'd encourage you to check out NYU's (relatively) new Furman Hall. It's one of the nicest buildings of the last 50 years within a two-block radius of Washington Square Park.

garth

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 19:09:29 -0500

Smitty, Yes, "yapping ninnies" was probably a bit overboard - though in my experience growing up in the neighborhood not too far. As for the "cheap, unthoughtful and unattractive buildings," how about the dorm on Second Street and the Bowery? There you have an ugly building built with pre-fab parts, extra-tall in 2002 for NYU (the school is leasing the property long-term from a developer) which stuffs two people into shoe-box rooms each with its own space-killing kitchenette and bathroom. Why not just have communal kitchens and bathrooms? Because then when NYU finishes up their lease the building would be harder to convert into studio apartments. And I don't think the new Student Center or the Law School are anything to be proud of (well, the Law School isn't too bad) . While not cookie-cutters they certainly do look cheap, and I would love to chat with someone who would defend them as attractive. For an example off how a school can build a building which takes a step forward and embraces its neighbors see, for instance, the new GSB at the University of Chicago designed by Rafael Viñoly. It's not that NYU "does make a lot of mistakes in their real estate decisions" its that since they left the Bronx for good they've pretty much only made mistakes in their real estate decisions (while simultaneously riding the coattails of the city's economic revival and becoming very good at marketing itself). That's why they get singled out for so much hate. But to be fair, when it comes to "developers" carelessly recreating my childhood neighborhood, I'm just as happy to bitch about developers like Scarano and Gregg Singer as I am about NYU.

Ethan

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 18:22:00 -0500

I am currently a graduate student at NYU and I cannot believe how awful an institution it is. I hate to seem naive, but it really took me by surprise how much the university is run like a corporation. The administration doesn't seem to even care about the concerns of its graduate students, let alone the surrounding neighborhood. Sadly though, NYU is hardly alone in constructing ugly buildings in NYC. In fact, despite the awe inspiring NYC skyline, I don't find New York to be an especially attractive city on the ground. Much of New York has been ripped up and rebuilt to put in ugly skyscrapers at the expense of formerly pleasant buildings. I know that much of what people love about New York and what makes it so unique comes from this entrepreneureal, bigger/newer is better mentality. But the only neighborhoods that I find really nice in Manhattan, like the West Village, are the ones that have largely avoided this mentality. NYU deserves to be singled out because they probably haven't built a building that wasn't an eyesore since the sixties. Some of the wrath should, however, be reserved for the other developers who also destroy neighborhoods and sightlines with their ugly buildings.

smitty

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 18:19:16 -0500

As much as I think that this building is too high, there is really no basis for the statement a commenter made that NYU is trying to build crappy buildings that they plan to tear down in 20 years. The Palladium may be ugly (but no more ugly than Zeckendorf Towers, or the other residential buildings in the neighborhood), but the building is thought out; it serves its purpose as a residence hall and an athletic center (which was sorely lacking before Palladium was built). In fact, the 3rd Avenue dorm mentioned was built in 1988 and they are not tearing it down anytime soon. (Although, yes, it is ugly...but it wasn't built recently). While NYU does make a lot of mistakes in their real estate decisions, people use them as a scapegoat for all the gentrification problems facing the Village and NYC at large. This lame jouna/opinion piece that Garth wrote is quite a shame. What are the "cheap, unthoughtful and unattractive buildings" that NYU has built recently? The law school and new student center (while may be ugly to some, attractive to others) aren't exactly cheap, unthoughtful or cookie-cutter and were both built recently. Also, calling NYU students "yapping ninnies" is, well, retarded. Yeah, the building is ugly and is replacing St. Ann's, and that's sad.

Chaz

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 18:18:30 -0500

NYU is awesome. They continue to make the area better. The once blighted Village is now an amazing playground for people from all over the globe. I hope NYU builds even more.

bosox fannie

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 16:39:16 -0500

This Old House did a piece on Harvard and it's renovation and development. Beautiful, compared to NYU and it's dorms on Third Ave or the former paladium.

otherobject

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 16:30:12 -0500

SD-evacuation plans are always thought of when developing a building and there are plenty both uptown and downtown that are much larger than the one at NYU and they managed to pass the evac. regulations. On design, NYU is run by shortsighted people who build cheap buildings for the short run only to tear them down in 20 years and rebuild another crappy one. It's a problem with most of architecture and design right now. People only see the monetary gain without looking toward the future. I was recently at MIT and they put up this fantastically bizarre building by Gehry that really drew together the older buildings in the area with the hypermodern ones. I agree with you Garth, Why can't more people have the foresight to build like this?

smitty

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 16:17:24 -0500

yapping ninnies??

S.D.

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 15:58:08 -0500

Not sure about alienating neighbors but would a 26 story be safe if thay had to Ecavuate it (i.e. Fire, smoke)? How tall are existing dorms?