On July 25th, the New York City Council voted to allow NYU to destroy this community garden and the LaGuardia Place Park strip to build 2 new skyscraper buildings at this location on LaGuardia Place. Several more skyscrapers were also approved to be built on children's playgrounds, public park land, a dog run, and more gardens including the landmark Sasaki Garden on the NYU super blocks. There was strong opposition from the NYU faculty, local community, Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation and local businesses to the NYU plan, but aside from the local Community Board, the NYC Government disregarded those objections and gave NYU permission to destroy these vital green and open spaces for high rise buildings in the heart of historic Greenwich Village. Legal proceedings are pending to stop this private use of public land.
Click http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/photo_shoot_120406 for more photos and information about this ill conceived plan and NYC Government action.