NYU plan slapped in lawsuit

NEW YORK University was slapped with a lawsuit Thursday over its controversial expansion plan in Greenwich Village.

Rent-stabilized tenants from the four residential towers known as Washington Square Village filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Dubbing themselves WSV Green Neighbors, the tenants who occupy 350 of the 1,296 units in the buildings, charge that the plan should be stopped because it will rob them of the private internal park they have had the exclusive right to enjoy for decades since their buildings were first dubbed Towers in the Park.

In court papers, the residents said the university’s plan would deny them a “required service” because NYU, who is their landlord, would shrink the park by constructing two new academic buildings on and under it.

In addition, the papers said, NYU would change the character of the park by opening it to the public.

In the face of heavy neighborhood opposition, NYU reduced the size of its ambitious plan by 22% before going to the City Council for approval.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the City Council’s near unanimous approval of NYU 2031 Plan, which will take 20 years to build.

At the time of the approval, Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan), who voted for the plan, said it would enable NYU to “explore new academic frontiers” but “will not overwhelm the wider Greenwich Village Community.”