I find NYU students as annoying as the next person. They clog up Union Square, take up too much room on the sidewalk, and torture me with their life story while on line at Whole Foods (I don’t care if you’re going on a picnic - just get your water, beeyotch). But what’s the big deal about the 26-story dorm being built on 12th Street?

Although, according to the university, the building is well within zoning regulations, East Village residents are complaining that it’ll destroy the “character” of the area. What the highrise will do is bring in business, and get the kids, who are now housed near South Street Seapot, closer to the main campus.

Preservation activists say they suggested alternatives to NYU, like building outside the Village. Um, the students are already living outside the Village. So by “alternative” you meant, “exact same thing.” Shouldn’t one live close to where one’s classes are? Otherwise, why fork up the cash for school housing?

Plus, I mean, it’s not a nuclear power plant that’s going up. It’s just a school, pot smoke and all.

Some residents worry about the effect the new dorm will have on the “charming streets” of their neighborhood. I’m not quite sure 12th Street between 3rd and 4th is what you’d call charming. There’s lots of cool stuff around (like Kiehl’s on 13th Street and Saint’s Alp farther down), but Irving Place it’s not. It’s sorta hot and dusty, at least in the summer. Maybe the highrise wil do some good in blocking out the sun.

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