New York University's expansion plans were unveiled for the first time in Greenwich Village Wednesday, but preservationists and neighborhood residents were on hand to express their opposition. Borough reporter Rebecca Spitz filed the following report.

While turnout was not large at New York University's open house Wednesday night, but the school readily showed off its plans to the public for the first time in the Kimmel Center in Greenwich Village. The university is ready to undertake its largest expansion yet, with the hopes of growing about 40 percent by its 200th birthday in 2031.

"It is not a plan that says you must grow by a certain amount. It allows you to [grow], and we think in a more thoughtful and sustainable way," said NYU Senior Vice President Lynne Browne.

The plan calls for a 40-story tower on Bleecker Street and three-million square feet of new classrooms, dorms and offices in the Village, as well as a new engineering school in Downtown Brooklyn and a satellite campus on Governors Island.

NYU officials say half of the planned new space will be within walking distance of its Washington Square campus.

"In our area, we are trying to make maximum use of our own footprint, be efficient and actually build as much underground as possible so it's not felt and experienced as pressure on the community," said Browne.

Most who attended the open house were NYU staff or students.

"It's a thrill to get to see how the school is going to evolve when I'm no longer here and how it's going to continue to evolve while I'm still attending," said NYU sophomore Zachary Taylor.

While NYU is trying to sell the plan to the community, there are some New Yorkers who just aren't buying it, and say NYU has a history of moving ahead without listening to its neighbors. They're worried the university will soon eclipse its historic area.

"The university has taken over more and more of the neighborhood. It feels less and less like a neighborhood and more like a company town or an extension of the NYU campus," said preservationist Andrew Berman.

Before the open house, preservationists and neighborhood residents rallied outside the Kimmel Center, expressing what they call "grave concerns" about the behemoth plan.

"Such an overwhelming presence of one institution in one historically diverse and small-scale neighborhood would irreparably damage its character and quality of life," said Greenwich Village resident Peter Lieberman.

Much of the NYU 2031 plan still needs to be approved by the City Council, the City Planning Commission and the Manhattan borough president, so there will be many chances for the public to weigh in as the plans move ahead.