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NYU Expansion Task Force Disbanded After Four Years

By DNAinfo Staff on July 9, 2010 9:00am

Borough President Scott Stringer with members of the Community Task Force on NYU Development with the university's vice president Lynne Brown.
Borough President Scott Stringer with members of the Community Task Force on NYU Development with the university's vice president Lynne Brown.
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DNAinfo/Nicole Breskin

By Nicole Breskin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

GREENWICH VILLAGE —Borough President Scott Stringer has suspended a Greenwich Village taskforce convened nearly four years ago to tackle tough issues on New York University’s development plans.

Stringer announced at a Tuesday meeting that the Community Task Force of NYU Development — whose mission he once likened to brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement — would be disbanded after more than 50 meetings since its inception in Nov. 2006.

Now, it will be up to the community board to deal with issues surrounding NYU's expansion.

“The overwhelming majority of task force members agreed this week that the time is right to open up these conversations at the community board level, where we can engage additional stakeholders and the public at large,” Stringer said in a statement.

But the news was a surprise and disappointment to many task force members who thought the group’s work was just beginning, with NYU recently unveiling its expansion effort.

The university recently presented plans for a tower at least 38 stories tall in the heart of Greenwich Village — which would make it the tallest in the area — along with additional development that would see skyscrapers replace local playgrounds and a dog run.

Nearly a dozen task force members wrote Stringer a letter on Wednesday expressing their “extreme disappointment” with the decision to end the task force.

“We were shocked and dismayed that the task force has been suspended in spite of our wishes to see its work continue,” local leaders said in the letter. “We believe, if anything, the work of the task force is needed now more than ever.”

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman, Judith Callet, resident chair of the Bleecker Area Merchants and Residents Association and Mercer-Houston Dog Run Association’s Beth Gottlieb signed the letter among others.

Task force member Mary Johnson, who wasn’t involved in the sending or signing the letter, said she was also disappointed.

“We devoted a real part of our lives to this," she said. "To say now, when we’re just getting into particulars, ‘Thanks, we don’t need you,’ is a hugely illogical decision.”

According to The Villager, Jo Hamilton, chairperson of Community Board 2, which covers Greenwich Village, said the board is “ready, willing and able” to step in.