By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — New York University is moving ahead with plans to build the tallest tower ever in Greenwich Village as part of its expansion effort.
NYU unveiled new design plans for the facility Thursday that show the tower will rise at least 38 stories off Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place in the landmark-designated Silver Towers area designed by world-renown architect I.M. Pei. It's also an area where locals are particularly concerned about development.
“The university’s planning calls for using the available square footage on this block,” said NYU’s senior vice president Lynne Brown. “We look forward to our dialogue with the community about the proposal.”
The 270,000-square-foot space will serve as a housing for school faculty along with a university-affiliated hotel for NYU visitors, according to NYU's plans.
The school has scheduled a meeting Monday with residents and Community Board 2, who are already concerned that the project will be out of scale with the neighborhood.
“I don’t think there is anyone [from the community] who is in favor of this plan," said Community Board 2 member Mary Johnson, who has lived in the Village for 43 years. “It’s an eyesore, it would bring a huge amount of traffic and a hotel atmosphere to the area. But my guess is that it is so unacceptable, it is a red herring.”
For the tower to go ahead, it would require zoning changes that would allow the hotel in a residential area and approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which regulates use of historic land.
Under an alternate plan proposed by NYU, the university would develop a stockier building on an adjacent property that is not landmarked, but it would leave less green space on the block than the taller tower plan.
