NYU is seen by many Greenwich Village residents as the neighborhood 800-pound gorilla. Every real estate move it makes is highly contentious and seen by opponents as the act of an avaricious behemoth whose appetite for properties is never sated. Perhaps a new variant of an old joke might be, “What real estate does an 800-pound gorilla buy?” “Whatever it wants.”

New York University is located in Manhattan and is fully integrated into the fabric of the city. Unlike a rural University with land, in order to expand, NYU acquires many real estate properties and demolishes them. To purchase prime properties which are located in the heart of its campus, NYU must compete and throw its weight around.

When renovating properties it already owns, it still runs into problems. Some of NYU’s properties lie within the Greenwich Village Historic District, so it has regulations to conform to. Others not protected by the landmark district still lie in a neighborhood very sensitive to architectural change and rife with community activists and preservationists.

In 2001, NYU demolished the brick house where Edgar Allen Poe last lived in 1844-45 for expansion of the law school. This was met with huge community opposition, but efforts to preserve the home were derailed. Read about it here.

The building in the photo is of 22 Washington Square North, previous home of the NYU admissions office, where 37,026 applications were processed in 2008, the largest number of any private university in the United States. The place is being entirely gutted and will be used by the NYU law school as a research facility. I was amazed at the extent of work – the entire interior has been completed removed – only the shell remained. Note the sky which can be seen from the front entrance. This property (along with #19) is part of one of the finest rows of Greek Revival townhouses in the United States and is located on Washington Square Park, one of the most desirable locations in New York City. The location is also important because the park is NYU’s de facto campus.

Recently, NYU has made plans to demolish the four buildings and theater which housed the Provincetown Playhouse at 133-139 MacDougal Street. The redevelopment of the playhouse will be the first time that planning will be done with support of the Community Task Force on NYU Development. Hopes are that this new approach will bring harmony between NYU and Village neighbors. Perhaps NYU can upgrade its image from the 800-pound Gorilla to that of Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster:)

Related Postings: Washington Square North, Lights, Camera, Action!, Evening Arch, Washington Mews, MacDougal Alley, Left Bank New York

When I tell customers or vendors on the phone that my office is on Broadway, lights go on in their heads, literally. They frequently follow up with a question in order to establish if it is that Broadway. I assure them it is that Broadway, but not that part of Broadway (i.e. the Theater District).

Broadway is the longest street in Manhattan, going from the most southern tip of Manhattan at Bowling Green all the way to to the northernmost neighborhood of Inwood. It then crosses Spuyten Duyvil Creek via the Broadway Bridge, continuing into the Bronx, keeping its signature name. And in that course of 12 miles, you will find some extraordinary variety of architecture and neighborhoods.

But you don’t need the longest street in New York City to find that kind of change. What is remarkable about Manhattan is the change in character over the shortest distances, without crossing the proverbial railroad tracks. So when it comes to knowing the nature of a street in New York City, you need to know much more than what street; you need to know where on that street.

Take MacDougal Street, which is only six blocks long. At one end, near 8th Street, you have a quiet block intersecting charming MacDougal Alley. One beautiful home, which I wrote about in Better When, stands there. The is also the location of the controversial Christian Science building. This photo was seen used recently in the New York Times (see here).

The next block abuts Washington Square Park with a number of tall prewar buildings. Two blocks further and you have one of the dirtiest, most touristy, and most tacky streets in New York City. This is the block where I recently featured Shawarma.

The very next block becomes very residential, lined by landmark buildings on one side and a number of well-known Italian businesses – Cafe Dante and their restaurant, Villa Marconi, and Tiro A Segno, the private club with a rifle range – on the other side. At the corner is the location of the recently closed landmark cafe Le Figaro.

Cross Houston on the next block, and we are in SoHo and find a handful of French-inspired cafes and restaurants. This is the block that during Bastille Day is closed for festivities, including the construction of impromptu Petanque courts with competitions. See my posting here.

And this is the block where I took today’s photo of absolutely one of the loveliest Parisian style cafe/bistros in the city – Oscar. Everything is so pristine and well appointed. The colors chosen for their exterior was complemented by the setting sun – it exudes the character of an authentic French cafe. You have to look hard to find this kind of place in such a bucolic setting.

Rapidly changing landscapes all over the brief distance of one kilometer. This is one of the greatest things about New York City – different worlds unfolding as you walk…

Hunt’s Point is not the first place that visitors or photographers want to go. And that’s fine with me – no crowds, no competition. It has the most extraordinary conglomeration of commercial establishments I have ever seen. In an article in the New York Times entitled Motor City, the area is referred as a “grease monkey mecca, with almost 200 junkyards, garages, and used auto parts shops packed into a couple of square miles.” Subsequent to the article, a resident sent a letter, quite offended, stating that there was an “explosion of vibrant artist and performance communities and theaters, as well as a bustling community that works hard to improve Hunts Point’s quality of life.”

There may in fact be one, but any pioneering activities certainly misrepresent the situation. I can’t say that I combed every square meter of the place, but I did cover some ground, and this is one of the most blighted looking areas I have ever seen (however, I haven’t been to Camden, New Jersey, yet). See another photo here.

Its very extreme nature is what makes it such a photographer’s paradise. Everything it does have is bigger and better – junkyards, used auto parts dealers, garages, prostitution, and the Hunt’s Point Terminal Market. And garbage bags (it is unfortunate that I did my article on plastic bags before I visited here – I was awed by a collection ensnared by barbed wire).

I’m not a Luddite or the type to romanticize the edgy – I don’t prefer vinyl over CD’s or a Holga or Lomo camera over my digital. I don’t mind a clean neighborhood or renovation. I would prefer an afternoon in the Tuillierie Gardens of Paris over a stroll through Greenpoint, Brooklyn. But I do have a fascination with the very dull, mundane, boring, nondescript, or, if I am lucky, the really horrible. I have posted on many subjects of this nature, in some cases even a place or building for which there is no reason to give a second glance. Why? Because these subjects force you to look and be aware, to find something of interest. I do love the the glorious, wonderful, beautiful, and magnificent – so easy to enjoy. It’s the horrible that is a challenge to appreciate.

I am reminded of a passage in Annie Hall where Woody Allen says that life is divided into the horrible and the miserable and you should be thankful that you’re only miserable. Perhaps that’s one of the things I like about Hunt’s Point – it makes me happy that I am only miserable 🙂

Related Postings: Tribute, Travesty in Travertine, Secrets of Ozone, Mary Celeste