Save the WSV Sasaki Garden

Coverage of Winning Lawsuit against Alienation of Parkland by NYU and NYC

2014-01-08T12:13:00.000-05:00

Judge Blocks Part of N.Y.U.’s Plan for Four Towers in Greenwich Village [NY Times]

NYU’s expansion plan dealt blow as judge rules state legislature must sign off on deal to complete most of project [Daily News]

Judge Halts NYU Expansion, Says State Approval Is Needed [Curbed NY]

Judge says city broke the law by approving N.Y.U. superblocks plan [The Villager]

Did we miss an article or video? Let us know in the comment section.

Coverage of July 18 Parkland Alienation Hearing

2013-07-23T11:56:00.000-04:00

Padma Lakshmi Joins Villagers' Fight Against NYU Expansion [Gothamist]

‘Top Chef’ host Padma Lakshmi joins fight against NYU’s planned Village expansion [New York Post]

Padma Lakshmi Joins NYU Expansion Opponents in Court [DNAinfo]

Sexy vs. Sexton: Padma Shows Up to Support Lawsuit Against NYU 2031 [Bedford + Bowery]

Village residents face off against NYU to keep green space [The Real Deal]

FULL: WSV Sasaki Garden Tour, August 1

2013-07-23T11:49:00.000-04:00

GVSHP is no longer accepting reservations for the Sasaki Garden in Washington Square Village Walking Tour with Ellen Jouret-Epstein scheduled for August 1.

Aug 1: WSV Garden Tour with Ellen Jouret-Epstein‏

2013-07-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Sasaki Garden in Washington Square Village
A Walking Tour with Ellen Jouret-Epstein
Thursday, August 1
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Meeting location provided after registration is confirmed
Free; reservations required

This 1.5 acre garden at Washington Square Village was completed in 1959 as an integral part of that modernist apartment complex, now owned by New York University. An early project of the young landscape architecture firm, Sasaki, Walker and Associates, the Garden is one of the few examples in New York City of open space so well integrated with housing, and the only one from its period to survive. Based on her study of the garden, Ms. Jouret-Epstein will discuss the interesting history of the Washington Square Village complex, from its origins as part of Robert Moses’ development plans for the South Village to its purchase by NYU, and highlight the garden’s design and planting strategies that have preserved space and light for the surrounding buildings for more than 50 years.

Image and text from GVSHP.

Parkland Alienation Court Hearing: Thurs., July 18

2013-07-17T10:56:00.000-04:00

WHO: YOU! PLEASE COME TO A HEARING ON THE NYU 2031 PLAN this Thursday at 10am — this may be our last opportunity to be heard!

WHAT: There are six causes of action filed against various City and State Agencies. Our attorneys will argue the merits of these claims, and the judge will decide whether to dismiss or uphold them.

WHERE: NY STATE SUPREME COURT–JUDGE DONNA MILLS–ROOM 574, 111 CENTRE STREET (between White & Leonard Streets), NYC

WHEN: THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013, 10:30 AM (BE THERE BY 10:00 IN ORDER TO CLEAR SECURITY–BRING PHOTO ID)

WHY: IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE JUDGE SEES THAT THE COMMUNITY IS OUTRAGED BY THE NYU 2031 PLAN. WE ARE, SO BE THERE!

Image and text from NYUFASP.

Fill the Courtroom on July 18 - NYU 2031 Hearing

2013-07-12T10:20:00.001-04:00

CRITICAL ACTION! YOUR PRESENCE IS CRITICAL!
Come to the next court hearing on NYU’s 2031 plan – July 18!!

WHO: YOU! PLEASE COME TO A HEARING ON THE NYU 2031 PLAN -- this may be our last opportunity to be heard!

WHEN: THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013, 10:30 AM ( BE THERE BY 10:00 IN ORDER TO CLEAR SECURITY--BRING PHOTO ID)

WHERE: NY STATE SUPREME COURT--JUDGE DONNA MILLS--ROOM 574, 111 CENTRE STREET (between White & Leonard Streets), NYC

WHAT: There are six causes of action filed against various City and State Agencies. Our attorneys will argue the merits of these claims, and the judge will decide whether to dismiss or uphold them.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE JUDGE SEES THAT THE COMMUNITY IS OUTRAGED BY THE NYU 2031 PLAN.

WE ARE, SO BE THERE!

Alienation of Parkland Hearing on July 18, 10:30 a.m.

2013-07-10T15:50:00.000-04:00

The Alienation of parkland hearing is scheduled for Thursday, July 18, 10:30 a.m. in Judge Mills' chambers, Room 574, 111 Centre.

From GVSHP, NYUFASP and others against the NYU 2031 Sexton Plan:

Our lawyers at Gibson Dunn have asked us to "Fill the Courtroom" at the next hearing, July 18th, see time date below. I invite you all to come and listen, as our legal battle can affect other garden's futures. Your numbers in attendance will be most welcome.

Randy Mastro and Jim Walden of Gibson Dunn will be arguing at the Hearing, regarding development by NYU, elimination of Greenspace in Greenwich Village. Case Specifically addresses the Alienation of Parkland and developer's rights and easements on publicly owned property of Community Garden and adjacent public property and playgrounds, and elimination of our Community Garden, LaGuardia Corner Garden,

"Our hearing date has been confirmed for Thursday, July 18 at 10:30 AM. We have arranged to conduct the hearing in the larger courtroom next door to Judge Mills’ chambers so that we have room to accommodate a large crowd. We would like to ask for everyone’s help generating as large a crowd as possible for the hearing. Both Randy and Jim will be arguing."

COURT HEARING
Judge Mills' chambers (Room 574)
Thursday, July 18 at 10:30 AM
111 Centre, Room 574
Tel: 646-386-3347

2 Acres of Parkland Sold for University Development in Phoenix

2013-06-21T10:52:00.001-04:00

The City Parks blog reports that in May 2011, a Phoenix neighborhood lost 2.015 acres of municipal parkland when the city sold the land to the private, for-profit Grand Canyon University for its $200 million campus expansion plan. Sound familiar? In 2012, the university sought to purchase the remaining 13.8 acres but legal and electoral advocacy prevented the sale.

Read more at City Parks blog.

TOMORROW, June 20: Mayoral Candidate Sal Albanese Tours the Garden

2013-06-19T09:23:00.001-04:00

Join us this Thursday, June 20th @ 1:30 pm in the historic Sasaki Garden
for a Tour and Press Conference with Mayoral Candidate Sal Albanese
as He Declares His Opposition to the Sexton Plan!

Come to Sasaki Garden this Thursday to hear Sal Albanese publicly announce his opposition to the Sexton Plan and his support for the residents of the Village and for all those fighting irresponsible development throughout the City.

Please mark it on your calendars!

Hope to see many of you there.

"Save WSV Sasaki Garden" does not endorse candidates for political office.

(Editor's Note: This post has been edited for clarity.)

Global and Local Public Land Grabs

2013-06-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

Greenwich Village is not the only community fighting to preserve access to and control of its public lands. Public land grabs are happening elsewhere in NYC and globally, with the Gezi Park conflict in Turkey the most visible land seizure. Here is a round-up of articles about this issue.

Urban Trees as Triggers, From Istanbul to Oregon [New York Times]

What Is It About Trees? [Huff Post]

The Case of NYCHA’s Disappearing Open Space [Shelterforce]

NYCHA Plan for Private Developers Is Resisted [The Wall Street Journal]

No Place for Amateurs: A New Stadium vs. Queens’ Soccer Fields [Urban Omnibus]

Please share your news links with us in the comments.

July 18: Parkland Alienation Court Hearing

2013-06-18T19:05:00.000-04:00

Save the date of July 18 for a court hearing on the improper seizure of the four parks properties on LaGuardia Place and Mercer Streets. In New York, parkland cannot be alienated without a vote by the state legislature, which the City of New York never sought. Moreover, the replacement parkland proposed by NYU is inadequate, and the Sasaki Garden irreplaceable.

Stay tuned for more details.

Photo: Spring in the Garden

2013-05-17T16:00:00.004-04:00

From reader "Resident Against the Plan" are these two photos of the garden in bloom this year.

For more photographs of the garden in bloom, like the new photo in our banner, visit Hubert J. Steed's spring gallery.

TODAY: Selling and Giving Away NYC Parks on WNYC

2013-04-23T12:45:00.002-04:00

Don't miss the "Selling and Giving Away NYC Parks" on today's Leonard Lopate Show. Leonard's guest is Jim Walden, an attorney with Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.

The practice of selling, or even giving away, public parkland and historic sites to private developers has become a disturbing trend in recent years. Attorney Jim Walden has taken several of these cases to court, including one involving Brooklyn Bridge Park, as well as the current case of the New York University expansion taking over public open space. He'll look at what the law says, and what can be done to protect these public spaces.

If you can't listen live, catch it later as a podcast. Here's the link: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/apr/23/selling-and-giving-away-nyc-parks/.

Guest Post: Trees and Skyline to be Replaced by a Skyscraper Building

2013-04-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village, April 19, 2012 by Hubert J Steed (source)

The NYC/NYU2031 expansion plans call for the construction of several new skyscrapers in the heart of historic Greenwich Village which will be built on this garden, bordering park strips, the comprehensive children's playgrounds, and on a "super block" south of WSV which will destroy a treasured community garden at LaGuardia Place Corner Garden.

Protests and legal appeals are being made to stop the destruction of these community and NYC necessities & amenities for the planned skyscrapers.

Virtually all of these trees and gardens will be destroyed in the near future, if our courts of law allow the NYC/NYU2031 Plan to proceed.

Please run the slideshow button on the upper right corner of http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/photo_shoot_120419 to see conveniently what is planned to be destroyed. If you run the slideshow with a soundtrack of "Where have all the flowers gone?" it might break your heart.

Click http://savewsvsasakigarden.blogspot.com/p/resources.html for more information and photos of Washington Square Village Sasaki Garden.

Also click http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/laguardia_place_community_garden for more photos of LaGuardia Corner Garden.

And http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/nyu_athletic_center_mercer for gardens around the NYU Athletic Center.

Click http://nyufasp.com/nyu-departmental-resolutions/ for NYU Faculty resolutions against the NYU2031 plan.

A video on this is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgBKhRGkLU0&feature=youtu.be.

Also see http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/nyu/nyu_main.htm for more information.

Author note: Hubert J. Steed is a longtime resident and photographer of NYC. His extensive galleries can be viewed at http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed.

NYU 2031: The Architects and Landscape Architect of Record

2013-04-22T13:16:00.001-04:00

NYU Local takes a look at the architects and landscape architect of record for the NYU 2031 plan.

Toshiko Mori Architect, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, and Grimshaw Architects are the three firms that are spearheading the design side of the proposed 2.5 million square foot expansion–their designs are truly beautiful albeit controversial.

Read the entire NYU Local article at Meet The Architects Behind NYU 2031.

Learn more about the firms on their websites:

Legal Victories for NYU in Two Lawsuits; Appeals to Follow

2013-04-08T12:12:00.000-04:00

NY State Supreme Court Justice reject petitioners' request for discovery [NYU]

Your NYU 2031 Forecast: Lawsuits Forever [NYU Local]

Village tenants plan to appeal dismissal of NYU 2031 lawsuit [WSN]

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against NYU Expansion [DNAinfo] -- lawsuit brought against the university by a group of rent-stablized tenants of Washington Square Village

Sasaki Garden at Washington Sq Village in Decline

2013-03-26T15:43:00.004-04:00

Precariously leaning redbuds, photo courtesy of Hubert J Steed

Dying pine, courtesy of Hubert J Steed

For a collection of photos of the WSV Sasaki Garden in decline, visit the WSV Sasaki Garden & Landscape Bleak House & Pending Death gallery courtesy of Hubert J Steed.

Also, for your consideration, "The Garden of Love", by William Blake

I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And Thou shalt not. writ over the door;
So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars, my joys & desires.

(Text from Poet Seers.)

An Alternative to the Current NYU 2031 Proposal, by Michael Sorkin Studio

2013-03-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

NYU EXPANSION, An Alternative Plan for the Growth of NYU, New York, NY, 2012, by Michael Sorkin, Maria Inmaculada Bueno Rosas, Jie Gu (source)

Michael Sorkin Studio's comment about "an alternative proposal for the growth of NYU" was published in the March 6, 2013 issue of The Architect's Newspaper but the essay is not available on-line. Fortunately, the plan drawing and description are available on the studio's website.

This proposal suggests accommodating NYU's academic expansion on Pier 40, the adjacent St Johns Building, and the legendary ocean liner S.S. United States. Pier 40 has long been a site in search of a use and our scheme offers an opportunity for new university facilities, for an expansion of the existing athletic fields, and for other new community and retail uses. This project includes an aggregate of academic facilities roughly comparable to those currently proposed by NYU for its Greenwich Village site and additional space for student, faculty, and visitor housing in a highly glamorous setting. We suggest that the existing Coles Gymnasium be retained on its existing site (with perhaps some expansion above) and that a new public school be built on the LaGuardia Place supermarket site (retaining a commercial ground floor) per NYU's current proposal.... [Read more]

Coverage of University Expansion Elswhere in NYC

2013-03-11T13:06:00.002-04:00

CUNY and Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Plans Prompt Open Space Concerns, October 12, 2012 [DNAinfo]

Village Residents Angry Over Proposed Dorm Construction; For Once, It’s Not NYU’s Fault, February 27, 2013 [NYU Local]

Photo: Winter in the Garden

2013-03-06T10:43:00.000-05:00

Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village, Feb. 8, 2013, photo by Hubert J. Steed (source)

Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village, Feb. 2013, photo by Resident Against the Plan

Hubert J. Steed's Winter 2013 Gallery has been updated at http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/wsv_gardens_winter.

Media Coverage of Feb. 26th Hearing of Article 78 Case

2013-02-27T17:29:00.001-05:00

Mercer Playground, land formally transferred to NYC Parks in 1997, photo courtesy of localecology.org

Mar. 7, 2013:

Can a Community Garden Stop the NYU Expansion? [NY Press]

Feb. 28, 2013:

N.Y.U. project foes hail judge’s ruling about strips [The Villager]

http://www.thevillager.com/2013/02/28/not-strips-but-parks/ [The Villager]

Feb. 27, 2013:

Judge Allows New Documentation In NYU Expansion Hearing [City & State]

NYU gotta be kidding! Matthew Broderick rips $6B expansion [NY Post]

Feb. 26, 2013:

NYU Expansion Opponents Victorious in Initial Legal Skirmish [Curbed]

Matthew Broderick Joins NYU Expansion Opponents in Court [DNAinfo]

Not in my backyard: Matthew Broderick slams NYU expansion [NY Post]

NYU's Expansion Plan Challenged in Court Today [The Village Voice]

Professors And Villagers Take NYU To Court, Matthew Broderick Shows Up To Watch [NYU Local]

(Hat tip: WSV Tenants Association)

Results of Feb. 26th Hearing of Article 78 Case

2013-02-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Release: February 26, 2013

Contact: Linda Cronin-Gross, LCG Communications: 718.853.5568; 917.767.1141; linda@lcgcommunications.com

NYU Expansion Plan Case:

Victory for Petitioners: Court Orders City, NYU to Respond to Petitioners’ Request for Discovery and Hearing on Issue of Parkland Giveaway in NYU Sexton Plan; Actor Matthew Broderick, Playwright Kenneth Lonergan Join Sexton Plan Opponents in Open Court

Petitioners in the NYU Sexton Expansion Plan case walked away with their first legal victory today, as State Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills sided with them and ordered the City and NYU to “show cause” why petitioners’ request for a hearing and expedited discovery on their “parkland alienation” claim should be dismissed. Petitioners argued that the City’s approval of the NYU expansion plan was illegal because, among other things, it gave NYU rights over four public parks, in violation of state law, which requires, under the Public Trust Doctrine, that parkland can’t be given away without state approval.

Approximately 100 Sexton Plan opponents, including actor Matthew Broderick and playwright Kenneth Lonergan, showed up in Manhattan State Supreme Court to hear petitioners’ lawyer, former Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, a partner in the law firm Gibson Dunn and Crutcher, make initial arguments. NYU and the City's Law department claimed that, despite the decades-old use of some properties on the proposed construction site by the public as parkland, the sites were not, in fact, dedicated parks. Mastro argued that there is plenty of proof that the four sites are, indeed, parks, including Parks Department signage at the locations, maintenance by the Parks Department and a devastating affidavit from former NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stern that the four parks are, indeed, parks. “If it walks like a park, talks like a park, and looks like a park – it is a park,” said Mastro at an impromptu press conference after court.

Actor Matthew Broderick, a longtime Village resident, said that, “NYU has taken more and more of what’s unique about the Village. Parks make the City livable.” “The university doesn't own Greenwich Village, and the part they do own they're destroying.And it's not for the students, it's for money," said Village resident, playwright, screenwriter and director Kenneth Lonergan. (Lonergan is perhaps best known for his screenwriting for the movies Gangs of New York andAnalyze This, among others.)

Judge Mills ordered the City and NYU to file briefs in opposition to the order to show cause on March 12, and for the petitioners to file a final brief in reply on March 15.

The hearing today was the first in an Article 78 case that contests the City Planning Commission's and the City Council's decision to approve a massive building plan by NYU, which would radically impact a crown jewel of New York City: turning the heart of Greenwich Village into a jam-packed construction site for over 20 years. Eleven groups and individuals, includingNYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan (NYUFASP), the Historic Districts Council, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, are among the petitioners.

NYS Supreme Court Hearing on Parkland Alienation by City and NYU

2013-02-24T09:28:00.006-05:00

NYS Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills will hear testimony on parkland alienation by the City and NYU. The four parks in question are the Mercer Playground, LaGuardia Corner Gardens, LaGuardia Park, and the Mercer-Houston Dog Run

Tuesday, February 26th
11:30 AM
COURTROOM OF JUSTICE DONNA MILLS
New York State Supreme Court, Civil Branch
111 Centre Street, Room 574

A message from Bo Riccobono of NYUFASP:

In pushing for the Sexton Plan, NYU and the City have argued that the four park strips on the superblocks are not parkland, and that the City never has regarded them as such.

According to Henry Stern, former New York City Parks Commissioner, this claim is false. As he has now pointed out in his blockbuster affidavit, those park strips are parks, by any reasonable definition. True, they have not been mapped as parks—but then neither has Central Park; and NYU can't build there, either.

Stern has also pointed out—and he should know—that the City has consistently regarded those park strips as parks; and that the only reason why they were not mapped as parks is that NYU alone has repeatedly and vigorously blocked efforts by the Parks Department to assert formal control of those four parcels.

In court this Tuesday morning—our first day in court, before the judge—our attorneys will be asking her for discovery, to get us access to archived correspondence concerning efforts to designate those parks strips as official New York City parks, and NYU's longtime obstruction of those efforts.

We want Judge Donna Mills to understand that quite a lot of people care tremendously about this matter; and we also want the public to know that this issue has not been resolved, despite the City Council's vote last summer. We therefore want to fill the courtroom, so that Judge Mills and the press (there will be a lot of media there) know we mean business.

The proceeding is scheduled to begin at 11:30, but it may take some time to get through security. As the courtroom holds only about 50 spectators, it is possible that you may not be able to get in. If there's so large a crowd that people end up waiting in the hall, however, that too will be very good for us.

So we're asking you to be there, AND TO SPREAD THE WORD BY SENDING THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR EMAIL LISTS.

Thank you,

Bo Riccobono
NYUFASP

Media Coverage of Former NYC Parks Commissioner Stern's Affidavit

2013-02-24T09:20:00.002-05:00

Former Chief of Parks Backs NYU Plan Foes* [Wall Street Journal]

Former City Parks Commissioner Signs On To Lawsuit Opposing NYU Expansion [NY1]

Former NYC Parks Commissioner Says City Illegally Gave Parkland To NYU [NYU Local]

NYU & Bloomberg in Cahoots [Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]

* The entire WSJ article is included below.

Former Chief Of Parks Backs NYU Plan Foes
By TED MANN

A former New York City parks commissioner said the city had long treated four parcels of land in Greenwich Village as public parks and had repeatedly sought to dedicate them as such, a claim opponents of New York University's planned expansion said could block the project.
Henry Stern, who led the Parks Department for 15 years under mayors Ed Koch and Rudolph Giuliani, said in an affidavit filed Friday that the city had for decades "either expressly or impliedly" dedicated the four sections on the superblocks between Houston and West Third streets as public parks. Mr. Stern's affidavit was part of a legal effort to block the NYU expansion.
The tracts of land—LaGuardia Park, LaGuardia Corner Gardens, Mercer Playground and the Mercer-Houston dog run—would be taken for either the permanent or temporary use of NYU in the construction of its planned 1 million-square-foot development. The City Council voted to approve the expansion plan in July, over the opposition of some neighborhood groups and members of the university's faculty.
In a motion scheduled to be argued Tuesday, the plaintiffs argue the council exceeded its powers to grant control over the parcels to a private developer because the sites had been used as parks, which would have required the city to first get approval from the state Legislature.
NYU has previously rejected that argument. It has noted that the four pieces of land were technically controlled by the Department of Transportation, not Parks, and hadn't been formally declared public parks.
That, Mr. Stern charged in an affidavit, is a distinction without a difference.
"It was always the City's intent in continuously making these sites available to the public for recreational use over many years to treat them as dedicated parkland," Mr. Stern's affidavit says.
There was an "implied dedication" of the land for park use, by virtue of its being open to the public for years for that purpose, Mr. Stern said.
A spokesman for NYU dismissed the filing as a last-ditch attempt to derail the expansion plan, which has won support from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"The 40-year, well-documented history of this site unambiguously demonstrates the city's position on these properties," wrote Philip Lentz, the university's director of public affairs, in an email message.
"The hail-Mary pass—which is what the petitioners offered today through this action—is an attempt to circumvent or entirely avoid the scheduled judicial process so the Courts would not have time to review the record. The move only further demonstrates that their case is without merit."
A spokeswoman for the city declined to comment on the suit.
In a brief seeking access to city records to support Mr. Stern's claims, attorney Randy Mastro, a former deputy mayor under Mr. Giuliani, included photographs of some of the parcels and noted that some had signs provided by the Parks Department.
The department contributed to maintenance and design of some of the parcels, and Mr. Stern recalled helping speak at the dedication of the Mercer Playground, at which a Parks Department flag was raised, he said in the affidavit.
The only thing that stopped the city from officially adding the parcels to its portfolio of parks during Mr. Stern's 15-year tenure, he asserted, was the objection of NYU itself.
"The only reason these sites have not been formally mapped as parkland is because of NYU's obstructionist tactics and steadfast opposition over many years," Mr. Stern said.
Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com

Former NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stern Contests City's Giveaway of Parkland to NYU

2013-02-22T20:04:00.002-05:00

From the CAAN 2031 website:

Mr. Stern’s affidavit refutes these absurd contentions made by NYU and the City, confirming that four separate properties were, in fact, dedicated parkland. In blunt terms, former Commissioner Stern said, “In my opinion, all four of these sites have been dedicated as public parks, either expressly or impliedly, and therefore cannot be alienated by the City without the State Legislature’s prior approval under the Public Trust Doctrine. It was always the City’s intent in continuously making these sites available to the public for recreational use over many years to treat them as dedicated parkland.”

The NYUFASP press release is available here.