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NYU plans to scale back Greenwich Village expansion – Metro US

NYU plans to scale back Greenwich Village expansion

New York University has agreed to reduce by nearly 20 percent its controversial plan to expand its campus in Greenwich Village.

NYU will scale back its plan by about 377,000 square feet of space, or 19 percent, in a deal struck by Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president.

Stringer is supporting approval of the project in the historic Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, he said in a statement posted on his website this afternoon.

NYU, the largest private, nonprofit university in the U.S. by enrollment, is looking to expand by building new academic facilities, student and faculty housing and retail space in time for its 200th anniversary in 2031.

“This is a good and important step, and a recognition that universities need to grow to maintain excellence and that strong universities are important to keeping our city strong,” NYU President John Sexton said in the statement.

Officials from NYU, the neighborhood and Stringer’s community task force have held more than 50 meetings in five years on the issue. Residents said NYU’s proposed additional dorms and buildings would have clogged the scenic West Village, and ruined the neighborhood’s character.