NEW YORK—A year of whirlwind of development activity in New York began with Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology winning an applied sciences competition in Dec. 2011. Cornell won tax-free land and $100 million for a new campus on Roosevelt Island.
Later, through the competition, Columbia University was given $15 million in city assistance for a new data sciences and engineering building, and a consortium led by New York University (NYU) got up to $15 million in benefits for a new applied science center in downtown Brooklyn.
NYU’s other expansion, in Greenwich Village, angered residents, who were in staunch opposition. The expansion—four buildings totaling 1.9 million square feet in new space—was approved by the City Council, after which opponents sued.
A proposal to build two glass towers on top of the historic Chelsea Market, was passed by City Council, amid much contention. An even more controversial development—the Barclays Center in Brooklyn—opened in September. Forest City Ratner, the company in charge, has been criticized for a lack of transparency and for not providing the promised number of local jobs.
Ground was broken on the new Hudson Yards neighborhood in Midtown on the West side. The 26-acre site, said to be the largest private development project in the country, will feature green space as well as multiple residential and office towers.
In Lower Manhattan, development of the the World Trade Center (WTC) site slowed down due to financing. Construction on 2 WTC and 3 WTC has halted, but 1 WTC and 4 WTC are slated for completion in 2013.
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