Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Ferris Bueller Swoops In To Save The Village From NYU
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jun 30, 2012
Modified Jul 2, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jun 30, 2012
Modified Jul 2, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
As Big Bad NYU embarks on plans to take over Greenwich Village with their titanic 2031 expansion plan, at least one brave soul has stepped in to save the day, and it's...Bueller? Bueller?
Yesterday, City Council held a series of small panel hearings to gauge reactions to the evermore ubiquitous university's proposal to add nearly two million square feet of dorms, classrooms and other facilities to its campus in the area, a plan that has garnered quite a bit of controversy in the area. And Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Producers star Matthew Broderick, who grew up in the Village and now lives on Charles Street with wife Carrie Bradshaw Sarah Jessica Parker, was on hand to offer his opinion on the expansion.
"They might need to expand, but they certainly don't need to destroy the Village," Broderick reportedly told reporters at the hearing. "I've watched so much of it disappear, so many small, nice, beautiful buildings being knocked over for huge dorms...I think it's gone too far, and it's really hurting the Village."
Broderick's testimony, which took place in front of hundreds of NYU faculty members and area residents in addition to members of the Council's subcommittee on zoning and franchises, garnered mixed reactions from the audience. Mitchell L. Moss, a professor of urban planning at NYU who spoke as a member of the hearing panel (Moss supports NYU's expansion), mocked Broderick's quasi-star power, "This is not the pristine Village of Sarah Jessica Parker, of 'Sex and the City,' of Matthew Broderick." However, one woman in the audience fist-pumped Broderick and told him to "give them hell" on his way up to testify.
His testimony centered primarily on his childhood in the Village, focusing on how important open spaces like parks and basketball courts had been to him while growing up. Many of those places, he said, had either been eradicated to make room for NYU buildings, or would be if the new expansion plan were to come into fruition. "It's not that I don't like change—some changes are good," he said. "But some have been heartbreaking."
Meanwhile, university president John Sexton said the expansion was necessary in order to "give students more value for what they're putting in." Undergraduate tuition clocks in at about $50,000 each academic school year, so we can only anticipate these future NYU dorms will feature jacuzzi bathtubs built with the crushed bones of former Village residents.
Tagged
City Council
ferris bueller
greenwich village
Matthew Broderick
NYU
nyu expansion
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .