New York University today received the go-ahead to launch its $6 billion expansion plan.
An appeals court overturned a ruling from January that was blocking part of the development, according to DNAinfo. The earlier decision stated that some of the lots which NYU plans to develop were “implied park land.” NYU’s plans will add academic buildings, faculty housing and community space by 2031.
A panel of judges decided that the lots — which house a dog run, a community garden and a children’s playground — are not protected as parkland.
“While the city has allowed for the long-term continuous use of parts of the parcels for park-like purposes, such use was not exclusive, as some of the parcels (like LaGuardia Park) have also been used as pedestrian thoroughfares,” the judges wrote, according to the website.
Local activists, officials and residents in Greenwich Village oppose the plan. [DNAinfo] — Claire Moses