Cooper Union's expansion approved by city planners (09/08/02)

Cooper Union's expansion approved by city planners

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The New York City Planning Commission approved a controversial large-scale development plan by Cooper Union on September 3 that would affect East Village residents and the Ukrainian community there. Residents in the East Village had long criticized the plan saying it attempts to change the residential character of the neighborhood to a more commercial one. Many Ukrainians in the East Village also opposed the plan for fear it would significantly alter their community.

A representative of the Ukrainian community in the East Village, Anna L. Sawaryn, said, according to The New York Times, "This is going to fundamentally change our community, and we are opposed to it." The chairwoman of the Coalition to Save the East Village told The Ukrainian Weekly, "We are very disappointed with this decision and it [the Hewitt Building] will totally obliterate St. George Church."

The New York Times also quoted the commissioners who approved the plan as saying that the public good that Cooper Union does by offering a free education for its students outweighed the impact the development would have on the community.

The plan the city passed will replace a six-story engineering building, located at 51 Astor Place, with a 212-foot office tower. It will also raise the Hewitt Building - the largest bone of contention with the Ukrainian community in the school's plan - from its current two-story level to a nine-story academic building with retail planed for the bottom floor. Ukrainian residents in the East Village argued that enlarging the Hewitt Building, which sits between Sixth and Seventh streets on Taras Shevchenko Place, would adversely affect St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church - located opposite the Hewitt Building, also on Taras Shevchenko Place.

According to The New York Times, three commissioners voted against the development plan - William J. Grinker, Karen A. Phillips and Joseph B. Rose - while eight commissioners voted for the plan. "I don't find a legitimate rationale for this project," The Times quoted Mr. Rose as saying.

However, Mrs. Sawaryn said almost all of the commissioners at the September 3 meeting appeared disappointed with the school's plan but voted for the project based on the school's name recognition.

Plans for a lawsuit filed by four individuals from the community against the City's Planning Commission and Cooper Union to halt the development process would go forward, Mrs. Sawaryn said. The lawyer for the plaintiffs, Jack Lester, could not be reached for comment when The Ukrainian Weekly went to print.

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