NYU Kicks Off $95 Mil Building; First Major Project Since Attacks

NEW YORK CITY-NYU officials say last Friday’s groundbreaking ceremonies for a controversial new $95 million NYU School of Law building represents the first major construction project begun since the World Trade Center attacks.

The nine-story structure, to be built on the site of a house once lived in by Edgar Allan Poe, is scheduled for delivery in 2004. It will be used for classrooms, offices, faculty residences and the NYU Law School Clinics and Global Law Center. When completed, it will be the first academic building to open at the school since 1954.

Located at 85 W. 3rd St., the 170,000-sf building caused a major ruckus when it was proposed two years ago. Preservationists say Poe lived in the red-brick row house from 1845 to 1846 and that during that time he worked on what many regard as his greatest works, “The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado.” The law school disputes the claim.