n September 26, 1832, at the inauguration of the first day of classes taught by the faculty of the fifteen-month-old University of the City of New York (later New York University), Chancellor James M. Mathews (1831-1839) noted "an impatience in the public mind for a beginning of the work of instruction." However, plans for a magnificent, gothic University Building had only just begun. Eager to satisfy the public demand, the University Council rented lecture rooms in Clinton Hall, a new four-storey building located downtown, near City Hall. The new University shared its first quarters with the Mercantile Library, which granted privileges to its young scholarly neighbors. Because Clinton Hall was in the heart of the bustling, noisy commercial district, the University Council looked uptown for a permanent and more suitably academic environment.
In the early 1830's the sleepy hamlet of Greenwich Village experienced a development boom at Washington Square North, where Sailor's Snug Harbor had erected stylish row houses. For $40,000, the Council purchased the block on the east side of the Square where Main Building presently stands. In the summer of 1833, workmen laid the cornerstone of "the Edifice" which came to be known as the Old University Building. The grand structure served the University, Greenwich Village and the city until 1895. "The Site," observed Mathews, "fronting on this noble Lawn, which bears the name of the Father of his Country; surrounded, as it is fast becoming, by much of the wealth and intelligence of the City; and central, as it will be, to all Classes of our Citizens, combines advantages of no ordinary value." In 1835, with the upper two stories yet unfinished, the University community eagerly took possession of its new and permanent home which was formally dedicated on May 20, 1837. Thus began the enduring relationship between NYU and the Village.