Study Supports NYU Expansion, Despite Opposition

NEW YORK CITY-The battle over the expansion of New York University’s Greenwich Village campus continues to gain steam here, after a new study commissioned by NYU found that private academic institutions fuel the neighborhood’s local economy. But this isn’t anything new, says Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, an opponent of NYU’s 2031 long-term plan to add three million square feet throughout the Village, including 1.5 million square feet in the Washington Square core.

“It was no surprise that NYU commissioned and paid for a study that said what they wanted it to say,” Berman tells GlobeSt.com. The report, prepared by Appleseed, a New York City-based economic analysis firm, found that the Village’s universities–including NYU and the New School–employ approximately 10,350 people and generates an annual payroll of $611 million, attracting thousands of visitors and students alike.