We, the faculty of the Department of Performance Studies, unanimously oppose the NYU 2031 expansion plan in its current form. 40% of NYU faculty lives in the superblocks. While we are committed to working towards a shared future, we are concerned that the disruption caused by construction near Washington Square Village and Silver Towers will have serious adverse effects on the retention and recruitment of excellent faculty.

We also have concerns that extend beyond the direct negative impact the 2031 expansion will have on the tenants of those buildings. These concerns include the following:

We are not persuaded that the declared rationale for the plan – NYU students need more space – presents sufficient grounds for launching a costly building campaign in a time of chronic economic uncertainty.
We are concerned that NYU students – already among the most indebted in the nation – will end up shouldering the burden of the expansion's huge bill in the form of increased tuition and other fees.
We believe that the execution of the 2031 plan will cause an irreparable rift with our community neighbors and that their right to shape the destiny of Greenwich Village should be respected.
We are concerned about the health risks that such continuous construction will have on the tenants of the surrounding buildings (Washington Square Village, Silver Towers), particularly the young and the senior citizens who live there.
We are concerned about the ecological degradation of lower Manhattan, a city with very little green space left.

Even as we resolutely oppose the 2031 expansion plan, as committed members of the Tisch community, we also recognize that Tisch is facing pressing and very specific space needs for studios, classrooms, and offices. We are sympathetic to these concerns and needs. The current form of the 2031 plan, however, would involve the immiseration of so many members of the university community, at Tisch and elsewhere, both faculty and students. It also puts the financial stability of the university as a whole at risk. We believe that other models for expanding the university have not been adequately considered, nor have faculty been sufficiently consulted in this process university- or school-wide. The 2031 plan in its current form comes at much too high a price, literally and figuratively."