Stunning “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi turned heads yesterday when she showed up to lend her star power to the legal fight against NYU’s controversial expansion plan.
Lakshmi, 42, slipped into one of the last available seats in a Manhattan courtroom packed with activists who claim the school’s blueprints will illegally eliminate vital green space in Greenwich Village.
“I’m just a concerned mother, Village resident. There’s not a lot of places to play downtown,” she said.
Nearly a dozen community groups are suing the city for approving NYU’s $6 billion, 20-year plan to erect four massive buildings, adding 1.9 million square feet of new classrooms, dorms and a gym.
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Randy Mastro argued yesterday that the sites at issue — which include the La Guardia Corner Gardens and the Mercer-Houston Dog Run — should be considered untouchable because they’ve been used by the public for decades.
City lawyers countered that the “strips” of land aren’t listed as parks on official city maps but are designated as streets and belong to the Department of Transportation.