From: Alicia D. Hurley, Vice President, Government Affairs and Community Engagement

Dear Neighbor,

I am pleased to be able to inform you that NYU and the Archdiocese of New York have completed the long-discussed sale of the site of the former NYU Catholic Center.

The site, on Washington Square South and Thompson Street, will be home to NYU’s Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, which will include spaces for religious observance, offices for NYU’s Chaplains’ Circle, classes, music rehearsals, and conferences, and will include space for an ongoing Catholic presence. The creation of this Center will provide a communal home for our students’ religious and spiritual lives, as well as furnish us with additional academic space in our core area.

Click here for more details on the University’s plans and here for a statement by NYU’s Chaplains’ Circle.

The project architect is Machado and Silvetti Associates, LLC, a leading architecture and urban design firm known for distinctive spaces and unique works of architecture in the United States and abroad. As proposed, the structure will forego some 18,000 sq ft that could have been constructed as-of-right, and will be five stories shorter than it could have been as-of-right. In choosing to forego an as-of-right approach and shorten the building’s height, the University will seek a variance through the City’s Board of Standards and Appeals to modify lot coverage and front and height setback requirements. And, in keeping with NYU’s sustainability efforts, the Green Action Plan, the Center will be constructed to LEED Silver standards.

We believe these decisions are very much in keeping with the principles we have embraced in our 2031 planning process and in our discourse with the local community.

I look forward to speaking with you at greater length about this project over the coming weeks. We will be presenting this project to Community Board #2 in June and July. Feel free to contact me anytime with any questions.

Sincerely,

Alicia D. Hurley

Vice President
Government Affairs and Community Engagement
University Relations and Public Affairs
70 Washington Square South, Room 1107
New York, New York 10012-1019
telephone: 212 998 6859
fax: 212 995 4849
alicia.hurley@nyu.edu

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