By Lincoln Anderson
The Catholic Center at New York University, in foreground, with N.Y.U.’s Kimmel Center for University Life, to the left.
Despite reports that it might be leaving Washington Sq. S., the Catholic Center at New York University now plans to stay. According to Father John P. McGuire, O.P., of the Catholic Center, while they will merge with St. Joseph’s on Sixth Ave., the Catholic Center will continue to operate at N.Y.U. for the foreseeable future. Cardinal Edward Egan visited the center on Nov. 17, lending a hand in its soup kitchen, and at the time said the center was too special to lose, according to McGuire.
The main reason given for closing the center was financial; the center’s air conditioning needs a $1 million repair and its stained glass windows need to be fixed. But the Archdiocese has now committed to funding the repairs, said McGuire, who is also taking over as the father at St. Joseph’s.
However, Joe Zwilling, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese, said, “We have not yet made a determination on what will happen with the Catholic Center. It would be wonderful if it is able to continue. Exactly how it will work out is something we have to work out with the Dominicans and N.Y.U.” McGuire and his assistant fathers are part of the Dominican order, which since the 13th century has ministered to universities.
John Beckman, an N.Y.U. spokesperson, said the university hopes the center will stay and that it’s a valued spiritual presence on campus. The site has 10 stories of development air rights, according to an article in the New York Times.
N.Y.U. signs long-term leasefor the Tower Video building
In other news, N.Y.U. signed a long-term, 49-year lease with an option to buy for the Tower Video store building at E. Fourth and Lafayette Sts. The lease also includes an adjacent open lot. Tower is moving out of the top two floors and N.Y.U. is negotiating as to whether Tower will remain in the bottom two floors. The university is polling its departments to find out what uses they need and whether the building might accommodate them.
N.Y.U. supports South Village Historic District
N.Y.U. officials have expressed support for the proposed South Village Historic District. Michael Haberman, the university’s government and community relations director, told the Washington Sq. News, the university supports the district. At a recent luncheon of the Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce at which he was the guest speaker, N.Y.U. President John Sexton said the university supported the new district, which is being proposed by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the new South Village Landmark Association, or Sovilla. Haberman reiterated to The Villager that the university supports the district, though he noted that they can’t really completely endorse something that is not yet in its final form; however, he noted, N.Y.U. was one of the first to join Sovilla. The site of the Catholic Center at N.Y.U. is not inside the boundaries of the preliminary proposal for the district. Andrew Berman, G.V.S.H.P.’s executive director, said the building, from the 1960s, wasn’t particularly architecturally distinguished, but that the historic district’s boundaries were still only preliminary. N.Y.U.’s main expected development site — the Morton Williams Associated supermarket site, which N.Y.U. owns — is just east of the proposed historic district.
