DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 2014
TO: The NYU Community
FROM: NYU President John Sexton

 

One of the most important recommendations to come out of the final report of the University Space Priorities Working Group was the proposal to establish a committee to provide ongoing feedback about issues on the superblocks after the Working Group had finished its work. The Working Group made the point that Washington Square Village and Silver Towers superblocks "...should be better places in which to live: better in terms of their physical environment and better in terms of the relationship between NYU and the community."

Accordingly, I am pleased to share with you today the membership of the Superblock Stewardship Advisory Committee, which will be chaired by Professor Laurence Maslon from the Tisch School of the Arts, who chaired the Stewardship and Quality-of-Life Subcommittee of the Working Group (the full membership of the Stewardship Committee can be found below). The 17-member Committee includes 13 voting members - nine of whom were selected by their representative elected bodies (the number will increase to 10 with the formation of the council for full-time non-tenure-track/contract faculty in the fall) - and four non-voting, ex officio members of the University's administration.

In keeping with the Working Group's recommendation, these members of our community will provide advice to the University and act as a forum for consultation on quality-of-life issues on the superblocks before, during, and after construction on the site of the Coles Sports Center, including providing guidance on such matters as meeting the obligations the University must fulfill prior to construction; the design process for the facility to be built on the Coles site; efforts to mitigate the effects of construction; ongoing stewardship; and communication between the University and its neighbors.

One of the Stewardship Committee's early responsibilities will be advising on the process for selecting an architect for the Coles site. That process will begin this summer. The expectation is that an architect will be selected by early fall.

Construction on the Coles site means that NYU will be without its main sports and recreation facility - which serves as home for our intercollegiate and club sports teams, and as a recreation and fitness resource to many other members of the NYU community - until the new building is completed. Therefore, we have also formed a committee to provide guidance to the University in its efforts to provide high-quality, convenient, and affordable fitness options, as well as a robust athletics program, while Coles is unavailable. While the membership of this Committee - which will be led by Christopher Bledsoe, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics - is still being formed, it will include representation from Coles users from the Faculty Senators Council, the Administrative Management Council, students from various athletic programs, and the alumni/ae community, among others.

The issues of space, construction, and stewardship have been challenging for our University community, and for our relationship with our neighboring community. The work of the Stewardship Committee will improve the University's decision-making and enable us to make strides in improving our communications, and I would like to thank the members of the Committee for their willingness to serve.

 

 

Superblock Stewardship Advisory Committee

Membership Roster
 
 

Chair

Laurence Maslon
Arts Professor, Tisch School of the Arts

 

Faculty Senators Council

Sewin Chan
Associate Professor, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Jeff Goodwin
Professor, Faculty of Arts and Science

Angela Kamer
Associate Professor, College of Dentistry

Allen Mincer
Professor, Faculty of Arts and Science

 

Full-time Non-tenure Track/Contract Faculty

Rosemary Scanlon
Clinical Associate Professor and Divisional Dean, School of Continuing and Professional Studies

 

Student Senators Council

Michael Hengerer
Undergraduate Student, Gallatin School of Individualized Study

Julia O'Connor
Undergraduate Student, College of Arts and Science

 

Administrative Management Council

Barbara Albrecht
Director, Property Design, Development, and Services, Leonard N. Stern School of Business

 

Tenants Associations

Anne Hearn
Washington Square Village Tenants Association

Eero Simoncelli
Silver Towers Tenants Association

 

Division of Operations

Beth Morningstar
Deputy to the Executive Vice President and Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Communications, Division of Operations

Franklin Diaz
Senior Facilities Manager, Office of Faculty Housing

 

Administration Liaison (ex-officio)

Lynne Brown
Senior Vice President, University Relations and Public Affairs

 

Senior Coles Site Building Team (ex-officio)

Michael Patullo
Deputy Chief of Staff

Rachel Belsky
Project Director

TBD
Office of Government and Community Engagement