September 2000
On the Waterfront: NYU Teams Up with the State to Create Green Space in Brooklyn
By Arun Kristian Das
Back in 1972, when New York University sold its spacious campus in New York City's the Bronx and consolidated its schools in downtown Manhattan, it was giving up open space and athletic fields in exchange for much-needed cash. Since then, the private university's students have not enjoyed a true athletic program, but all that may change soon.
In August, officials from New York State, the university, and the Trust for Public Land announced the purchase of a 262,000-square-foot plot of industrial land along the Brooklyn waterfront to be converted into an athletic facility for NYU and a public park.
"This will give the university its first athletic fields in almost 30 years," said John Beckman, a spokesman for NYU. "In the 1970s, the university was in financial straits and sold its undergraduate campus to [the City University of New York]."
The Trust for Public Land, a national, nonprofit land-preservation group, bought the vacant land, formerly a terminal during Brooklyn's shipyard heyday, with an $8.3 million no-interest loan from NYU, university officials said. In the first half of 2001, land ownership will be transferred to the state, which will lease a portion of the land to the university.
"A new waterfront park for Brooklyn will breathe new life into the community and surrounding neighborhoods, providing open space for residents to enjoy and much-needed playing fields for university students' outdoor athletic activities," said Gov. George Pataki, in a statement.
The state will pay for the transaction with existing money appropriated from the Environmental Protection Fund, said Kevin Quinn of the parks office's budget division. Created in 1993, the EFP helps finance open-space conservation and land acquisition, and is primarily funded by the state's real estate transfer tax, according to the governor's office.
The state's Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation and the university will jointly develop the land. The university's preliminary plans are to create a soccer and lacrosse field, a softball field, and possibly an indoor facility, Beckman said. The university will also organize activities for community residents, he said. The state intends to develop its share of the land, including 400 feet of frontage on the East River, into New York's 160th state park, according to a statement.
The state has not yet determined a schedule for development, according to Randall Sawyer, a spokesman for the parks office. Based on responses to requests for qualifications, the office has scheduled a series of interviews with engineering firms during the next few weeks, he said. "Until we see what the private sector has to offer, we don't really have a timetable set."
A local politician has, however, weighed in on the proposed plan, expressing approval for the construction of a state park but disappointment in the choice of university partner. Brooklyn-based colleges deserve "an opportunity to provide [the parks office] with a proposal that could best meet the needs of Brooklyn residents and students attending college in Brooklyn," said Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, in a statement. In a letter to parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro, he urges the parks office to also consider proposals from Brooklyn colleges in addition to NYU. Golden is an NYU alumnus.
NYU officials have countered Golden’s concerns, saying the university has more than 8,000 students from Brooklyn and stressing that the athletic facilities will be open to the public.
Deutsche Bank and the JM Kaplan Fund Inc. assisted the Trust for Public Land in covering the costs for title, insurance, and site assessments and appraisals, said Susan Clark, a spokeswoman for the trust.
"The purchase of two city blocks for conversion to a state park is a remarkable accomplishment, especially in a city where land is so difficult to come by," she said. ###