NEW YORK (AFP) – A contentious plan to expand the New York University campus in the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village won the city council’s near-unanimous go-ahead Wednesday.

NYU, which says it needs more space to remain a top-flight institution, will be allowed to add nearly two million square feet of new teaching, lab and other facilities.

The expansion is sharply reduced from an initial proposal by the university in the already crowded neighborhood.

Activists had bitterly opposed the construction plans, saying they would ruin a neighborhood famed for decades as the haunt of writers and artists.

Vocal protesters attending the council vote were ejected from the chamber, local NY1 television reported.

The Small Business Coalition, which represents more than 100 shops, restaurants and other businesses, welcomed the scaling back of the expansion, but said it was still not satisfied after the council’s 44-1 approval.

“We appreciate the reductions in the bulk and size of the buildings,” said the coalition’s Judy Paul, CEO of the Washington Square Hotel, which has been operating in Greenwich Village since 1902.

“However, the overall scope and 20-year time frame of the project is still a daunting prospect for the community and small businesses alike.”

According to the coalition, Greenwich Village is already one of the most built-up areas in New York, while also featuring a vacancy rate more than three times the city average, meaning that more construction is unnecessary.

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