Editor of Heeb magazine Joshua Neuman taught philosophy at New York University for five years, and currently resides in the Village, near NYU.
The neighborhood and NYU sometimes get along, and sometimes they don’t. But now Neuman is speaking out against his former employer, joined by other residents of Mercer Street who oppose a plan by NYU for major construction in the area,
Shira Rubin reports in the Washington Square News:

“Residents of a co-op building across from NYU’s Warren Weaver Hall have started a petition protesting the university’s plans to build a new cogeneration plant under the building, saying that turning Mercer Street into a construction site is unreasonable for the block’s residents and businesses.
[…]
The construction could take up to three years. The cogeneration plant would replace the current 30-year-old diesel power plant, which supplies energy to seven buildings. The new plant will simultaneously produce heat and electrical energy and will power 30 buildings with a higher efficiency.
[…]
NYU has expressed concern over the need to relocate 1,500 square feet of classroom space if Gould Plaza became the new site, as suggested by the petition. But Josh Neuman, a former NYU professor and current editor of Heeb magazine, said he remembers constant construction and flexibility of classroom location while he was teaching.
“This is a case of might making right, of the university causing adverse effects on the community when there is an obvious alternative,” he said. “They just don’t have the initiative to absorb the costs, both financial and human.”