MANHATTAN — Overwhelming community interest in NYU's plan to expand in Greenwich Village has forced Community Board 2 to relocate some of its upcoming review sessions regarding the proposal.
Meetings of CB2's transportation, parks and public health committees have been moved from rooms in NYU's Silver Building and the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center to a larger, lower-level hall at Our Lady of Pompei Church on Carmine Street "in order to accommodate the tremendous interest in CB2's public review process" of NYU's proposal, district manager Bob Gormley said in a Tuesday afternoon email to locals.
The university is asking the city to allow it to rezone two large blocks bordered by Mercer Street, West Houston Street, LaGuardia Place and West Third Street in order to develop four new buildings.
Public review of the plan kicked off Jan. 4, when more than 200 people crammed into the lower-level meeting room and mezzanine of the Center for Architecture on LaGuardia Place.
When about 200 people arrived at a meeting of CB2's land use committee Monday night, the group had to unexpectedly move from the Center for Architecture to Our Lady of Pompei, six blocks away, The Epoch Times reported.
“This is a testament to your community activism. We’ll make sure we plan appropriately [in the future] — the Javits Center,” board chair Brad Hoylman joked, according to the paper.
CB2's transportation committee will meet Tues., Jan. 10. The Parks committee will meet Thurs., Jan. 12, and the public health committee will meet Weds., Jan. 18. All meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. and take place at Our Lady of Pompei, 25 Carmine St.
