Most NYU Professors Oppose Expansion Plan: Survey

Most New York University professors oppose the university’s downtown expansion plan, according to a new survey.

About two-thirds of NYU professors who responded to a Faculty Senators Council survey (PDF) said they weren’t in favor of the administration’s plan to add two million-square feet of new classrooms, offices and residences to its Greenwich Village campus.

Respondents said they feared the plan, called NYU 2031, is too costly and would turn the neighborhood into a construction zone for decades.

The Faculty Senators Council is the elected representative body of the faculty within NYU. It distributed the survey to 3,933 full-time faculty members. About 30 percent responded. The survey was taken between April 5 and 13.

University spokesman John Beckman said the administration will reflect on the findings and continue to carry on a dialogue with faculty members.

Next, the Planning Commission will review the project, and the City Council is expected to vote on it this summer.