When the Big Get Bigger: NY's Universities & Their Neighbors

Forty years ago, Jane Jacobs opposed the construction of New York University's monolithic Bobst Library on Washington Square South. The world has changed since then, but institutional expansion remains a major force in cities. Plans by Columbia University, New York University, Cooper Union and the United Nations have all met with considerable controversy. Even when institutions are committed to the economic, intellectual, social and cultural vitality of the communities, others see dire threats to existing social webs and economic uses.

A panel moderated by James Traub of the New York Times featuring Hilary Ballon of New York University, Lee Bollinger of Columbia University, Judith Rodin of the Rockefeller Foundation and Kent Barwick of the MAS, will address these specific cases but also the larger issues of urban investment, preservation and regeneration.

• Category

  Nonprofits & Activism

[TheShannon76]

The central planners speaketh....

[funboy7979]

NYU has destroyed Greenwich Village. NYU needs to expand like a healthy tumor because it accepts almost 50% of the yokels who apply, i.e., just about anybody with the money. Hideous buildings, arrogant/clueless/pretentious students. They long ago transformed St. Mark's Place from a cultural center to a food court one might find in a mall. The babbling self-regarders in the video spewing buzzwords and trendy jargon are useless.

[dabigjokeoftheday]

engines of poverty..........

[Acronym77]

U.N.I.V.E.R.S.I.T.I.E.S. = "Uniform Non-criticized Ideology Vanquishes Education, Ruining Students In Them Imbibing Ethnic Studies"

[luddite333]

University of Oregon is tearing apart my favorite neighborhood. Phil Knight is controlling the UO and getting administrators to use eminent domain.