“Stringer-ing NYU Along,” (Editorial, March 28) is a myopic oversimplification. Anyone who lives downtown, and not in a parallel universe, understands that any neighborhood’s needs are more complex and subtle than those you suggest.
You describe the residents who oppose this overdevelopment having a “long-outdated fantasy of bohemian Greenwich Village,” and negate the notion of “a genuinely cohesive campus.”
Let’s talk reality: This is Manhattan. The long-outdated fantasy lies with NYU in thinking it can suffocate the Village with one more square foot, and with any elected officials who believe this neighborhood can be oversaturated any more than it is already. After 2031, NYU will only need more.
Actually, any economic benefits from added jobs can be realized further downtown. There, the massive development would neither eclipse the identity of a neighborhood, nor threaten the little remaining public green space.
As president of the beloved and vulnerable Mercer-Houston Dog Run Association (MHDRA), I know this all too well.
Beth Gottlieb
President, MHDRA
Manhattan