Not in my neighborhood!
Greenwich Village celebs are so desperate to stop the NYU expansion that they’re putting their talents on the block at a silent auction next week to raise money for the legal battle.
What started as a local online holiday auction has expanded into a star-studded affair, with more than 140 items — including a two-hour acting lesson with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, starting at $2,500, and a shopping spree “to curate your pantry and spice collection” with “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi.
“How would like to have lunch with Bill Moyers, Fran Lebowitz or Lewis Lapham? Have your own private acting lesson with Academy Award winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman?” the NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan Web site says.
Susan Sarandon offered the “Save the Village” auction two hours of free ping pong and two rounds of drinks for four people at her pingpong club, SPiN.
Other items include a game of basketball with actor John Leguizamo; a weekend for two at any of Andre Balasz’s hotels; a print by pop artist Alex Katz; and a framed page of an original working score by composer Philip Glass.
Faculty members and Village residents have banded together to stop NYU’s $6 billion, 20-year plan to build four massive towers on two blocks near Washington Square Park.
“The only people that stand to benefit from a developer’s wrecking ball are the people that will line their wallets,” said “Dark Knight Rises” actor Matthew Modine, a 30 year village resident who offered a signed photo of himself in 1986 on the set of “Full Metal Jacket” to the auction.
“These profiteers are, no doubt, not even residents of the Village. People that do not enjoy the historical character of Greenwich Village.”
The construction zone will gobble up four parks: Mercer Playground, the Mercer-Houston Dog Run, La Guardia Corner Gardens and La Guardia Park, which hit close to home for Lakshmi, who showed up to a Manhattan courtroom in July to support the legal fight against the plan.
“I’m just a concerned mother, Village resident. There’s not a lot of places to play downtown,” she said after the closing arguments. The lawsuit is still pending.
Others are just fearful that the nearly 2 million square feet of new classroom, dorms and a gym will change the historic character of the neighborhood.
Matthew Broderick, who has long lived in the Village with his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, testified at a City Council hearing last year.
“I think it’s too big and changes the character of the Village,” he said.
“[NYU] might need to expand, but they certainly don’t need to destroy the Village.”
Playwright and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan offered signed movie scripts of his plays “This Is Our Youth” and “Lobby Hero” and the movie “You Can Count on Me” starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo and Matthew Broderick.
The auction is slated for Dec. 9-18. at http://www.nyufasp.com/auction.