12th Street Project Planning Group Presentation December 10, 2009

1. 12th Street ProjectPlanning Group PresentationDecember 10, 2009

2. In this presentation, the Planning Group, consisting of Rachel Corbman, Melissa Lee and Jennette Leone, focuses on the development of the New School and its impact on the surrounding community. In the following slides, we explore the current development plans (particularly the creation of a new “signature” building) in order to assess and report on the social, architectural, and environmental implications resulting from the New School’s structural expansion. ARCHITECTURE

3. ARCHITECTURE

4. CONCLUSIONS The New School is building a new building at the corner of 65Fifth Ave and 14th St. This new building has not yet begun to be built but has stirred up a lot of heavy debate whether or not it should be. I hope to show why it matters what this building will look like. Who really has a say in what it should look like? Also, I will offer some ideas for the ground floor of the building which students and the public will see on a daily basis.

5. Part 1: The New School Emerging in Greenwich Village Both The New School and New York University live in Greenwich Village. This area of Manhattan is rapidly transforming into a small college town. There are students mixed in with the residents who have been living in the area for years. Recently, there seems to be some skepticism from the residents about having these monster schools in their neighborhood. "The New School has generally been a low-key, good neighbor for many years, but they're beginning to create some friction," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Some of that friction is coming from the planning of The New School’s new building. Back in the 1980’s the school built a dorm to house some of their students on 135 12th St that unfortunately annoyed some of the locals, mostly because of its size and bland design. Hmmm…maybe architecture and design do matter. Perhaps if the building had looked more interesting and been a tad smaller the local residents would have taken to the new building and added students more warmly. Similar to now, the need and desire of a new building stemmed from the sheer growth of student enrollment.

6. Part 2:Early ideas and discussions with the community and students Between the months of December and March of 2007 there were community meetings held to discuss the plans for a new building at The New School. Some of the original design plans were that the building would be about 300 feet high with a 50 foot utility tower. Though these dimensions were never stated in the presentations the plans for the height of the building were scaled back a bit due to the economy. In March of 2009 New School President Kerrey created a “Universities Facilities Committee” that was compromised of faculty, staff and students who wanted to offer their opinions and suggestions to the new building. The New School also planed to continue to meet with the Manhattan Community Board 2 in order to inform members of the community about the plans and designs. The Board of Trustees finally awarded the design to architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. The current rendering of the design of the new building is a glass-sheathed campus center. This is a picture of one of the designs considered:

7. The design was not verified by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP according to the website wirednewyork.com in a small article. That website, however, posted their own photo of the new building with a slight addition: By adding the grim reaper they voiced their opinion of dislike towards the new building. The building is currently going to be 12 stories high with the red color shown. Jane Crotty, one of the spokeswomen for The New School, was quoted in The Village as saying: “They want it to be light and airy, and there will be open areas for the student areas,” she said. “Since there’s no college green, you want these open spaces where students can mingle. This is like an indoors, urban-campus-type concept — a vertical campus.” The cube structure would show the red colors of the building by day and glow pink at night.

8. Part 3: Reactions from the community Unfortunately, the community has not taken a liking to the idea of a new shiny building in their area. Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation said "NYU is the 800-pound gorilla down here, but this would be the largest building ever in the Village". The reaction from the community is that the building will clash with the rest of the surroundings. "Putting something on 14th Street that looks like a transplant from a suburban office park is inappropriate" was Brad Hoylman’s opinion of the new design, a member of the community board. This becomes a very touchy subject. We want to preserve the old and the history that comes with an area like Greenwich Village, but at the same time buildings and people evolve and that’s what makes big cities great. In William Whyte's video “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces,” he talks about what really draws people to certain building and spaces. People like to be able to be alone, they like to sit down and eat, people-watch, or converse with one another. He stated that buildings are designed to attract people. If the current design of the New School building is drawing hatred from the community maybe a compromise between something new and something old would appease more people. Perhaps not building a “glassy” structure would make it feel less invasive to the long time residents. Paul Graziano, a planning consultant to city council members thinks: "They're taking the whole place over. They're a different animal than NYU, but they still need to be taken down."

9. Part 4: The Ground Floor As I mentioned earlier, the ground floor of the building is a space that will be seen by everyone on a daily basis. It should have an inviting feel to it, especially if The New School wants to win over the local residents. Like Whyte suggests in his video perhaps they can build a space for people to feel like they can come and sit down since sitting space is very important in attracting the most people. There could be a coffee house open to students and the public on the ground floor -- that way people from the community will feel like they got something out of the new building. As long as the space is utilized, I think most people will let go of any skeptical feelings they may have. So many big buildings are built with a lot of wasted inside space. In conclusion, I feel that allowing a community and students to be involved in the decision-making process of a new building helps to make everyone feel they have a say in the matter. Growth and change are inevitable, and it’s important to introduce new designs yet remain respectful to the surrounding area.

10. THE COMMUNITY REACTION

11. The New School was founded 90 years ago, not as an accredited university,    but rather as a 'bastion of intellectual and artistic freedom',    with lectures open to all 'intelligent men and women'...  

12. Until very recently,the New School upheld the founders' vision quite literally.  Consider the following cultural and literary examples:                             From Audre Lorde's 'biomythography'  Zami: A New Spelling of my Name (1982):  "That fall, Muriel and I took a course  at the New School in contemporary american poetry,                                   and I went to therapy"  (pp. 214 Lorde).   From Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl (1989)  "Stella took psychology course  at the New School at night,                                                                                                  looking for marriage among the                                                                                       flatulent bachelors in her class" (pp 31 Ozick).   Sometime in the 1990s, all the 'Friends' (excluding Ross and Chandler) took a course   at the New School, as did Sienfeld's Elaine...   

13. However, as the New School website explains:  "Over the past decade, The New School has undergone a dramatic evolution as an institution.  In 1998, The New School was largely focused on continuing education, with a non- credit students making up over 40% of total enrollment.  Today, almost 90% of students are enrolled in a degree program". The planning process for the new 'signature' building (65 5th ave), an ongoing process for the past 5 years, has (especially in the past two years) become the focal point of the discussion of the University's future...  TIMES HAVE CHANGED

14. MOSES V. JACOBS CLASSIC NYC DEBATE An Anecdote:  I sent Lia Gartner (VP of Design, Construction and Facilities Management) an e-mail.   It was a brief e-mail: vaguely describing the project, name-dropping the course, and asking her for any guidance that she might be able to provide us. I figured that I wouldn't get a response for a day or so, if at all.  However, within an hour, there, in my mailbox, was an e-mail from Lia Gartner.  It didn't say terribly much.  The planning process, I now know, is representative of a "lifetime of learning for several dozen engineers, the architects, dealing with city agency approvals, site conditions, all manner of systems, materials, neighbors, ..... more [issues] than I can even list".  Implicit in this exchange, and echoed throughout my presentation, is the issue of transparency.  Has this planning process been an open discussion?  Has it been a Robert Moses-esque, behind-the-scenes process, run by the administration, with limited community involvement?  Or has it been a combination of both? And what do I mean by 'the community', anyway? 

15. THE COMMUNITIES  the public, the city, the neighborhood, the street people affiliated with the New School

16. I. THE PUBLIC, THE CITY, THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE STREET Although the New School maintains a level of commitment to the public (providing lectures, screenings and relatively inexpensive seminars), the New School's priorities have shifted. Not surprisingly, the public has responded to this shift. The New School, more than ever, is simply viewed as another privateuniversity in New York City.   In the local community, this means:  as a business that wants to build buildings.  As a result, the Village Resident Alliance, the Greenwich Village Society Historical Preservation, Community Board 2, 12th Block Association and Union Square Partnership are all interested in/ concerned with this plan.   a letter from the GVSHP to President Bob Kerrey

17.        THE CONCERNS  Now.  65 5th avenue is currently a construction site, something that no one wants in his/her backyard!  A Bit Later. There has been some talk of the possibility that once the New School tears down this building, the financial situation (or other factors) will be such that we won't be able to commence building immediately.        Future.  "The New School has generally been a low-key, good neighbor for many years, but they're beginning to cause some friction", the executive director GVSHP told Marc Ferris of the Real Deal (Nov 2008); "NYU is the 800 LB gorilla down here, but this would be the largest building ever in the Village.”  Since the time of this quote, the plans have been scaled back considerably, but the critique remains: it's a tall, glass building that doesn't fit in with the surrounding buildings.  Transparency.  The New School has been meeting with most of the aforementioned organizations since 2007, but many still believe that the New School is not taking the community's concerns in account. 

18. II.  THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY The New School is made up of eight schools, scattered all over the city.  This presentation aims only to give a general overview: privileging formal interventions and the loudest voices.

19. PLANNING COMMITTEES  there are two very, very, very different committees that have been created to consider the planning process:  The University Facilities Committee:  Within the past year, President Bob Kerrey convened the UFC, partially in order to quell concerns about the lack of transparency. It is supposed to include: The University Provost, Vice Provost and the deans of each New School Division.  After recent structural changes this includes:  Tim Marshall, Lisa Servon, Joel Towers, Michael Sanger, Neil Gordon, and Joel Lester.  This probably also includes Robert LuPone and Martin Mueller (who are, technically speaking, directors, not deans).  This committee also brings together faculty and student representatives as well as design (Skidmore Owings & Merill) and real estate consultants (K. Backus & Associates).   The University Faculty Senate's Academic Policies Committee (APC) Years earlier, the UFS convened the APC.  Its mission statement is as follows: "To support university-wide academic space and IT planning initiatives by providing a clearinghouse within the University Faculty Senate for faculty to circulate information surrounding these issues, and to ensure that faculties matters are considered in tandem with the pedagogical objectives of the divisions and the university."       

20. MEANING WHAT? Neither of these committees has decision-making authority.  The UFC (despite being comprised of the highest ranking academic administrators) serves a consultative role in the planning process.  The APC is a committee of UFS (whose purpose is to provide thoughtful advice to the deans, the Provost, the President and the Board of Directors). As I mentioned, these committees are very different. The UFC was convened by the University, while the APC could be seen as akin to the type of community intervention I wrote about earlier. However, this time, instead of being concerned about the neighborhood, their concern is the future of the university...  It's important to mention that:  the University Student Senate (USS) does not have a committee with a parallel mission statement (albeit they have discussed pertinent concerns in their meetings) They do, however, have a Space Planning Committee.  This committee addresses the space issues we have today.  I mention this because: for the 9,400 degree seeking students (who make up the bulk of this community), The New School is a transient space.  We'll likely have graduated before this building is built.  Thus, while faculty (especially senior/full-time faculty) are dedicated to finding a way to have some impact on the plans, portions of the student body are more likely to appear apathetic or reactionary-- even when they do care and have justified concerns.  

21.                            STUDENTS  The moment when the student voice was loudest, regarding the new 'signature' building, was during the (first) student 'occupation' of 65 5th avenue, this time last year.  (These voices may or may not have been representational of the larger student body.)  Many were of the opinion that the 'signature' building should not be built at all, and all were of the opinion that we should have more say in the matter/ planning process. (This display of interest could be seen as partially responsible for the student representation on the UFC.)

22. CONCLUSIONS The concerns of those affiliated with the New School are perhaps too involved, interconnected and varied to list, but they include:  financial concerns, design concerns and academic concerns (for example, the privileging of certain schools, namely Eugene Lang and Parsons, over others).   These concerns, then, create webs of larger concerns: we have to pay for this (what, then, can we no longer afford?). Furthermore, design impacts both function and the imagination and this, in turn, intersects with the academic concerns. Urban Planning Matters. As a result, the biggest concern is transparency or, rather, a perceived lack thereof.  And, although the New School website argues that deans, faculty members and senior members of the administration have been involved since 2007, and students since last year, many don't agree or would like to be MORE involved.  Still, to end this on a positive note:  For years, people affiliated with The New School have maintained an interest in urban design/planning via the 'signature' building. This interest does not seem to be dwindling.  Either a lot of people are really fascinated by urban design/planning or, more likely, a lot of people (who may or may not otherwise care about these issues) really care about The New School.   The New School has decisions to make. Our position is different than that of our neighbors. It’s quite possible that we no longer want to be ‘low key’. But deciding what we want instead is something that many agree that we should be doing together, as a community.

23. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

24. The Goal • In the midst of all the development changes happening around the New School, one may ask: • What is the environmental impact of the New School’s development projects? How could their plans and policies be more effectively Green? • As we learned at the beginning of the semester, New York City has always been a place rich in natural resources. As we begin to understand the environmental impact of our actions, we understand the risks of damaging these natural resources. • In plaNYC 2030, the proposed strategy for growing New York City into a stronger, safer, and more sustainable city in the next 20 years, ten steps are posited in order to help the city reach these goals. Of these ten monumental points, four are concerned with “greening.” • These goals include: • Reducing global warming emissions by more than 30% • Achieving he cleanest air of any big city in America • Cleaning up all contaminated land in New York City • Opening 90% of our waterways for recreation by reducing water pollution and preserving our natural areas

25. The Issue Currently, the U.S. Green Building Council reports that The built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health, and productivity. In the United States alone, buildings account for:     72% of electricity consumption,    39% of energy use,    38% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions,    40% of raw materials use,    30% of waste output (136 million tons annually), and    14% of potable water consumption. Further, the Go Green Initiative states that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population is expanding at a mind-boggling rate. The world reached 1 billion people in 1800; 2 billion by 1922; and over 6 billion by 2000. It is estimated that the population will swell to over 9 billion by 2050. That means that if the world’s natural resources were evenly distributed, people in 2050 will only have 25% of the resources per capita that people in 1950 had. The world has a fixed amount of natural resources - some of which are already depleted.

26. Solutions • But there are options. Tangible ways we can make a difference. • Many of these solutions lie in the benefits of Green building initiatives. • The U.S. Green Building Council outlines the following incentives for choosing to “go green.” • Environmental benefits: • Enhance and protect ecosystems and biodiversity • Improve air and water quality • Reduce solid waste • Conserve natural resources • Economic benefits: • Reduce operating costs • Enhance asset value and profits • Improve employee productivity and satisfaction • Optimize life-cycle economic performance • Health and community benefits: • Improve air, thermal, and acoustic environments • Enhance occupant comfort and health • Minimize strain on local infrastructure • Contribute to overall quality of life

27. The New School • The New School, being the socially conscious institution that it is, is undertaking numerous measures to become more Green during their construction and development processes. • The New School website states that a few initiatives focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing potable water consumption, managing waste, and improving efficiency and indoor environmental quality. • It purports that the The New School was one of the first institutions to sign up for the Mayor's Challenge to Universities. Developed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as part of PlaNYC, the challenge encourages local universities to reduce their green house gas emissions by 30 percent by 2017. At the start of the program, “The New School had the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions per square foot of existing buildings of any of the participating institutions.”

28. Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions • The New School is currently working to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions by • offering a pretax transportation expense benefit plan for its employees. All major modes of public transit (including MTA bus and subway systems, PATH, and Metro North trains) are within walking distance from the university's urban campus, enabling a sustainable commute for its students, faculty, and staff. • buying renewable energy credits to offset 100 percent of purchased electricity. • only purchasing computers and appliances with an Energy Star rating. • In the future, The New School proposes to • commission and retrofit HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) systems in select existing buildings. • partner with Con Edison to retrofit lighting fixtures to cut carbon emissions by an estimated 2 to 5 percent. • initiate a pilot program for plug load efficiency to make existing appliances more energy efficient. • develop a comprehensive, sustainability-awareness campaign for the university community.

29. Decreasing Potable Water Consumption • The New School is currently working to decrease potable water consumption by • initiating a pilot program to install waterless urinals in public restrooms. • planting vegetation requiring a minimum amount of irrigation for the landscaped areas of the university campus. • In the future, The New School proposes to • install low-flow faucets in dormitories and academic office buildings. • install low-flow showers in dormitories. • continue to install waterless urinals and toilet flushometers throughout the university campus.

30. Managing Waste and Improving Resource Efficiency • The New School is currently working to manage waste and improve resource efficiency by • launching a successful recycling program for metal, plastic, glass, paper, and cardboard. • developing a pilot composting program in cafeteria kitchens. • Replacing rented water coolers with owned coolers and bottle fillers. • recycling 100 percent of e-waste, including computers, appliances, mobile phones, and audio-visual equipment. • substituting cardboard boxes with reusable plastic crates. • printing 90 percent of marketing and collateral materials on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper with FSC-certified venders. • Utilizing office paper containing 30 percent post-consumer content. • Offering biodegradable cutlery and plates in New School cafeterias. • In the future, The New School proposes to • augment purchase of local and organic food for cafeterias. • continue to reduce the number of delivery cycles of products throughout the university.

31. Improving Indoor Environmental Health Quality • The New School is currently working to improve indoor environmental health quality by • uses Green Seal approved cleaning products that contain chemicals with low volumes of volatile organic compounds (VOC). • In the future, The New School proposes to • utilize low-VOC paints in major renovations. • utilize zero-VOC paint in dormitory rooms and other communal living areas.

32. The Future • Concerning the new construction on the New School campus and its plans for a “signature building,” the New School recently stated in a press release that: • “These new facilities will be built to superior environmental standards, presenting a model of sustainable design in New York City and helping the The New School shrink its overall carbon footprint. Use of green building materials, water conservation methods, energy efficiency initiatives, and other steps will represent a major advance on The New School’s commitment to environmental sustainability as a signatory to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.” • Further, it points out that the New School’s commitment to a greener future does not stop here: • “New academic initiatives also illustrate the school’s commitment to sustainability. The New School recently received approval from the New York State Department of Education for new BA and BS programs in Environmental Studies. The innovative programs are among the first to bring together urban ecosystems and sustainable design, pioneering a new frontier of environmental education.”

33. Evaluation • Undoubtedly, all of these steps lead the New School’s development endeavors in a more sustainable, environmentally sound direction. • Yet, these initiatives are all works-in-progress. • To evaluate the New School’s success, I compared its reported works with the goals of LEED. • The U.S. Green Building Council created a system for evaluating the environmental impact of building structures. This system is called LEED, or the “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.” It sets out to encourage and accelerate global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. • The LEED for New Construction Rating System is designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, including office buildings, high-rise residential buildings, government buildings, recreational facilities, manufacturing plants and laboratories. • This system sets the standard for most business, institutional, and government developments. In many ways, to consider a building truly “green,” it must be compliant with the LEED rating system.

34. Conclusion • Not only does the New School’s green initiatives conform to the expectations of GreeNYC (the environmental strategy of plaNYC), it further holds up when assessed within the LEED qualifications. • LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. • The New School’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing potable water consumption, managing waste and improving resource efficiency, and improving indoor environmental health quality certainly fit well within this whole-building sustainability approach.

35. In Closing Traditional universities are celebrated or inversely derided for being like little walled-off cities,  removed from the world – The New School, it seems, could not be farther from this model.  We walk or take the train, we access classrooms from our laptops, we move about freely in the 'real world' and the university, too, is engaged in this world. However, the turbulence of the last year has alerted many in the community to the fact that The New School has and will be negotiating many complex issues. For years it has been clear that The New School is not the same kind of school that our founders formed ninety years ago: a place for freedom of expression, which we still champion, but without an endowment, which we like too.  What is less clear is: What kind of university should The New School be? One of the most concrete places that this debate is taking place is in the (semi-transparent) discourse on the new 'signature' building.  This planning process has been ongoing since 2004, and like all modern urban planning projects, it involves: issues of architecture and design, zoning and city ordinances, real estate and financial concerns, neighborhood discussions, environmental considerations and so on.   Our group decided to focus on The New School’s new building in order to explore these concerns, even though any number of projects would have intersected with the same issues, for reasons that are as obvious as they are vital:  We care about The New School.  Urban planning is important (in this case) because it will alter 'our school' and (in all cases) because it will alter 'our city':  physically and ideologically.