How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
Keeping in stride with NYU's plan to expand the university by six million square feet by 2031, the Polytechnic Institute of NYU announced plans to raise up to $250 million to expand and redesign NYU-Poly's Brooklyn campus.
Dennis Dintino, Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration at NYU-Poly, said the i2e Campus Transformation, which represents the institute's dedication to invention, innovation and entrepreneurship, will reflect their approach to education.
"i2e is NYU-Poly's fundamentally new way of approaching academics and research by arming faculty and students with the tools, resources and inspiration to turn their research into real-world applications, products and services," Dintino said.
The first phase of the transformation will last between one and three years and will upgrade faculty and student common areas and laboratories. Infrastructure in older buildings will be updated, including repairs to windows and improvements to heating, electric and information systems.
During the second and third phases, projected to last up to 10 years, new buildings will be constructed. New additions to the Brooklyn campus will be correlated with NYU's plans to expand in downtown Brooklyn by 2031.
The institute expects to raise $50 million over the next few years for the project and close on the additional $200 million by the end of the decade.
Although an architect has not yet been chosen for the project, Dintino said NYU-Poly students and faculty are currently surveying the buildings to conceive of future changes.
The cost of the i2e transformation will be paid in full by NYU-Poly. The majority of phase one will be paid by loans, which will be repaid as the institute raises funds for the second and third phases.
To pursue an environmentally friendly path of expansion, NYU-Poly chose the Jonathan Rose Companies as the owner's representative; the firm recently constructed the first LEED-certified building with laboratories in New York City at the Cooper Union Academic Building.
Eduardo Finkielsztejn, project manager of the NYU-Poly campus transformation, said Jonathan Rose Companies was chosen through a competitive selection process.
"Our company has extensive experience working on transformative higher education projects," Finkielsztejn said. "Innovation is at the core of the university's academic mission and we will [follow] new sustainability practices, which we hope will have positive effects on how members of the university community interact with and use the buildings."
NYU-Poly freshman Allen Dindial was unaware of the redesign plans.
"I was expecting a newer look to things, such as the hallways, the stairwells and the classrooms," Dindial said. "I think this school presents an excellent learning environment, but a little renovation wouldn't hurt."
But NYU-Poly freshman Jonathan Verret was unsure of the practicality of the redesign initiatives.
"Whatever needs to be done can be done in it, but [the campus] still needs some renovating and modernizing," Verret said. "I think it wouldn't hurt for it to be expanded, but not necessarily redesigned."
