Submitted by Bruce Rosen, Jul 26, 2007 11:11

Fordham is part of an unrecognized higher education corridor along or within a block of Amsterdam Avenue that extends from John Jay College to Yeshiva University. The university, which sits on land acquired through the urban renewal process, has space needs that may be, in part, justifiable, but two "luxury" apartment towers are not. The door was open to this one-shot money approach with MoMA's Museum Tower and spitting distance away is Lincoln Center's own version atop Julliard. Much of the state's academic building is financed by Dormitory Authority bonds yet there has been no examination of what constitutes legitimate & necessary space. NYU's Law School controversial addition skirted this issue, in part, through self-financing. Will that be the case for Fordham? Might any of these space needs be better handled at or proximate to the Rose Hill Campus and thus benefit the Bronx, a borough more in need of priming? Lastly, Lincoln Center, of which this great research university is an integral part, is eligible for landmarking, the designation of which does not automatically prevent change but may yield more solid and trusted public review and neighborly, high quality new construction.

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