Stepping up their efforts to support NYU’s bid to create a school of applied sciences in Downtown Brooklyn, the borough’s business leaders today released a 90-second video demonstrating unified support for the initiative.
Produced by the DUMBO BID and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the video predicts that Downtown Brooklyn is on the CUSP of something big.
CUSP is the acronym of the NYU’s proposal to create the Center for Urban Sciences and Progress.
Under the plan, the university would transform the vacant and dilapidated 370 Jay Street – owned by the city and leased to the MTA – into the new school.
Through a powerfully compelling series of images and without spoken words, the video features business leaders, school children, people who work and live in Downtown Brooklyn and the area’s elected officials; all of whom point out the transformative nature of NYU’s proposal.
The video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJC8qxnP6hI.
“Brooklyn is on the CUSP! Reusing this eyesore as an academic campus of the future is a brilliant move and would position the borough and the city to create thousands of jobs for future generations,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz.
“Downtown Brooklyn and DUMBO are two of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city.
Transforming 370 Jay Street into a first-rate applied sciences school, will be the perfect investment that will allow these areas to grow and thrive for decades to come.
My colleagues in government stand shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the business community in advocating for NYU’s CUSP plan. We are all unified moving forward.”
“It is hard to imagine a more dynamic, deeply transformative initiative for Downtown Brooklyn than the reuse of 370 Jay for NYU’s CUSP,” said Tucker Reed, the newly appointed president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.
“And in an area known for the diversity of opinions it offers, there is complete unanimous consent that this proposal should move forward. We are unified like never before, and we urge the Bloomberg administration, our leaders in Albany to whom the MTA is accountable and NYU to come together and get this done.”
“DUMBO has more than one hundred technology firms, many of which have short- and long-term growth plans. NYU-Poly’s proposal for 370 Jay Street would create a pool of talent to meet their future hiring needs,” said Alexandria Sica, executive director of the DUMBO BID.
“A decision needs to be made soon in order to address these plans, therefore the DUMBO and Downtown Brooklyn communities are coming together to amplify their voice.”
Last year, the City of New York sought proposals from university-lead consortiums for the development of a school of applied sciences somewhere in the five boroughs.
NYU was one of several schools to submit proposals; but given its growing presence in Brooklyn decided to forgo other locations and opted to make 370 Jay Street the centerpiece of its plan.
In December, the City designated a consortium lead by Cornell University for a site on Roosevelt Island.
At that time, the Bloomberg Administration indicated that it was interested in continuing discussion with other respondents to explore the potential of additional designations.
