Today’s NY Observer covers NYU 2031 Expansion Plan and NYS Assembly Member Deborah Glick with this piece, Washington Square Park Champion Deborah Glick Squares Off Against NYU’s Expansion Plans:
NYU has a plan – a big plan to establish an even greater presence in and around Washington Square Park. And while there is no Lorax in Greenwich Village to protect the parks, gardens, and playgrounds from these expansive construction plans, or NYU 2031 as it has come to be known, there is a woman fighting to keep the towering buildings from casting their gloomy shadows over Washington Square Park. She is Deborah Glick. And while she may not speak for the trees, she is doing her darndest to speak for the community.
Deborah Glick‘s district includes the Village, and the NYS Assembly Member has a history of being a “champion” for WSP — she was the only government official to speak up in a substantive way against the dramatic redesign of the Park.
And, for those (like me) who knew the film “The Lorax” came out recently (you couldn’t really miss it; it was also accused of greenwashing), didn’t see it, and didn’t recall the premise of the original Dr. Seuss story; here’s the overview from Wikipedia:
The Lorax is a children’s book written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler. As in most Dr. Seuss works, most of the creatures mentioned are original to the book.
The book is commonly recognized as a fable concerning the danger corporate greed poses to nature, using the literary element of personification to give life to industry as the Once-ler (whose face is never shown in any of the story’s illustrations or in the television special) and the environment as The Lorax.
(The trees at WSP could certainly use a Lorax speaking up for them.)