By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — New York University does not want to erect a massive skyscraper at World Trade Center Tower 5, despite rampant rumors to the contrary, a school official told DNAinfo Tuesday.
Although NYU Senior Vice President Lynne Brown wrote a letter to the Port Authority last week mentioning the Tower 5 idea, it is nowhere close to happening, said Alicia Hurley, NYU’s vice president of government affairs and community engagement.
“Nothing has changed,” Hurley told DNAinfo. “Having the financial wherewithal to pursue and build a 1.3 million-square-foot tower at market rate is not in the cards for us.”
Hurley said Brown only sent the letter because the lower Manhattan community has been aggressively pushing the university to consider the Tower 5 site.
Community Board 1 Chairwoman Julie Menin and other board members see NYU as a perfect fit for the Financial District, a neighborhood that can accommodate the bulk and is in need of more educational and arts institutions.
Menin’s argument is bolstered by Greenwich Village residents’ objections to NYU building more towers in their neighborhood.
In response to NYU’s financial concerns regarding building in the Financial District, Menin suggested the university could be one part of a larger mixed-use development at Tower 5, so the school would not have to pay for an entire skyscraper.
Despite NYU’s uncertainties, Hurley said it would still behoove the university to meet with the Port Authority, just in case a deal could be struck that works for both parties. And the school is also hopeful that the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. could suggest alternate sites elsewhere in lower Manhattan, Hurley said.
“We want to have the right kind of conversation,” Hurley said, “as opposed to the politicking that’s been happening.”
