Vanderbilt in Chelsea is a big win for the city
New York, although global for business, is also a university city. We house an exceptional constellation of colleges and universities that feed our workforce, stimulate discovery and innovation, and prepare and inspire the next generation of leaders, thinkers and modifications. At a time when the landscape of higher education changes, New York doubles its commitment to an improvement in emergencies, fueling economic growth.
For more than two centuries, the general theological seminar has been a beloved institution in the heart of Chelsea. But, like many cultural and educational establishments, the seminar, after 207 years, has faced challenges that have limited the resources available to preserve and restore its historic campus.
When it has become clear that the seminar should hire a long -term tenant, the community has met. Residents, defenders and local leaders gathered to defend a result that could be celebrated by the community. My office, in close collaboration with representative Jerry Nadler and other elected officials, notably the president of the district, Mark Levine, the senator from the Brad Hoylman-Sigal State and the deputy Tony Simone, worked to ensure that any way to follow would reflect the values of the neighborhood, would preserve its history and welcome progress.
This solution now takes root and testifies to what we can achieve thanks to a vision led by the community. Vanderbilt University, one of the most respected university institutions in the world and a name imbued in New York history, will activate the seminar campus, ensuring that there is an intellectual center and an anchor institution for future generations.
Already, our region is home to the largest community of Vanderbilt outside Tennessee, and there has been a tendency to sustained growth in New York students who are part of the Vanderbilt campus in Nashville. This new physical presence, in many ways, is a manifestation of the fact that Vanderbilt has been part of the New York community for years.
We know that when students attend a college or a New York university, they stay here after graduation. Vanderbilt’s proposed university programming on the campus, which is currently being examined by the New York State Education Department (NYSED), adapts perfectly to the position of New York as a worldwide for talent.
The University provides for a “study” opportunity for undergraduate students to come to New York for immersive and practical learning experiences in the courses, research, internships and the projects of cornerstone. In terms of higher cycles, Vanderbilt will launch a master’s degree in business and technology sciences that mixes the Owen Graduate School of Management and School of Engineering study program from Vanderbilt to extend the city’s talented professionals of the city who have both the commercial and technical skills necessary to advance our innovation economy.
Together, this campus will complete the operations of Vanderbilt in Nashville and will serve as a powerful model which mixes rigorous academics with a real impact, connecting directly with the emerging and prosperous commercial sectors of our city.
As I said during the public announcement on campus last September, this partnership is not only to preserve a set of historic buildings; It is a question of preserving the objective. It is a dynamic renewal of one of Manhattan’s most special blocks.
The presence of Vanderbilt is a commitment to the long -term future of the city and people, the possibility and the shared goal. It is also a demonstration of what good governance and collaboration can accomplish. The member of the Nadler Congress, as well as other local leaders, shared my commitment to find a solution that would honor the heritage of the seminar while obtaining his future. Our collective advocacy has helped to guarantee that this agreement would not only serve the institutions involved, but the city and the state as a whole.
We don’t have to choose between honoring the past and building the future. In Chelsea, we do both. Vanderbilt has already welcomed the community, organizing a series of inaugural conferences last spring – Vanderbilt in the city – which brought together researchers and experts from Nashville and around the world to discuss some of the big ideas and questions of our time. And I look forward to opportunities for continuous cultural and intellectual construction that celebrate various prospects and a significant commitment.
Me, and my Chelsea neighbors, look forward to the finalization of the New York prosecutor’s examiner on the Vanderbilt lease and the examination process and the approval of Nysis by the Council of Regents so that we can accommodate the first cohort of students in this newly redesigned campus next fall. And for Vanderbilt to join the exceptional constellation of higher education establishments that shaped our city and our state and assured us to stay at the forefront of innovation and opportunities.
Bottcher represents Chelsea to the municipal council.
