Councilmember Alan Gerson reports that after reading The Villager’s recent article on New York University’s eyeing its two South Village superblocks as potential spots to put some of its 3 million square feet of planned expansion, he is forming a Superblocks Task Force to examine the issue.
“We believe that there remain lingering restrictions within the development of the superblocks that go back to the urban renewal [designation] of the 1950s,” Gerson stated. “We are setting up a steering group of residents and small business owners on the impacted blocks to work with myself and N.Y.U. to see if we can come up with a written plan for the superblocks.”
Specifically, Gerson said, he believes the southern superblock — between W. Houston and Bleecker Sts. and Mercer St. and LaGuardia Pl. — which includes the Morton Williams supermarket and Silver Towers, is restricted from any new development until 2021. The group will start meeting this month, he said.
