NYU “Takes Over” Heights

By on August 20, 2007 2:53 pm in News


The hyperbole surrounding NYU moving students into 67 Livingston Street and its merger with Polytechnic University has reached fever pitch….sorta. Reports of ersatz Blutarskies fumbling around the neighborhood and academic robber barons seizing townhouses have yet to materialize.  Brownstoner rounds up the story today and adds that given NYU's voracious appetite for real estate and they way the school gobbled up land in Greenwich Village, a Heights takeover is not unpossible.

As a Violet for Life, I'd welcome the addition of these crazy kids… especially if they're acting out Animal House in Italian (watch clip above).

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  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    A university that calls its sports teams the Violets can’t be all bad.

  • http://brooklynheightsblog.com Qfwfq

    As a former Violet I can say this: it’s not the students that would be the problem so much as the buying up of all available real estate, kicking everyone out, turning them into plops of purple crap, and not paying any taxes on any of it. They are one of the three largest landowners in nyc. They are such a terrible institution.

  • babs

    I also am an NYU alumna and I hate what my alma mater has done to the village (east and central). I would hate to see something similar happen in the Heights — but hopefully the fact that most of it is landmarked will prevent that.

  • Nelson

    I too am an alumni of the “big violet” . Lived in the village for years and found what they have done to the neighborhoods there loathsome. I hope they won’t be able to buy up our beautiful neighborhood.

  • Maroon

    What is so bad about NYU? My understanding is that the East Village used to be pretty sketchy, and NYU’s been good in terms of foot traffic, young people, and such. As to whether taxes get paid, does it matter on a per-neighborhood basis? It’s easy to imagine other properties in the East Village appreciating and more than offsetting the drop in revenues from NYU buildings, although I admit I don’t know what the data are. Plus, it’s not Columbia, which wants to eliminate completely Manhattanville. I agree that in a landmarked area with a lot of owners, not much the univ. can do, but as far as the village goes, there are worse places on earth.