Moldy Peaches

Courtesy of feministing.com

New York University (NYU) plans to build a dorm on an East Village site formerly owned by the Catholic church. And although NYU is allowed to demolish the church itself, the new dorm's residents will still be subject to Catholic "morals." As part of a bizarre agreement with the church, the developer (read university) has agreed to several restrictions on the property's use: including a ban on "performing any abortions or providing any professional counselling or advice advocating abortions or family planning." It also prohibits signs or other advertising relating to abortions or family planning.

Lynne Brown, an NYU spokesperson, said the university was planning to use the building as a dorm, not a health or medical facility, where family-planning counselling would ordinarily take place. She said the NYU team that negotiated the transaction ... "felt comfortable that the activities that typically occur in a dormitory would not be inconsistent with either the spirit or the language of the covenant."

Moral deed restrictions are common in real estate transactions involving religious buildings, in part to avoid the embarrassment of a religious building being developed into something incongruous, however, should this matter. If a religious group is so concerned about future occupants or development, don't sell. One shouldn't get an exemption by sprinkling in religion.