That Giant FIT Expansion Just Got a $74 Million Pledge from De Blasio

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Though he never attends their parties, Mayor de Blasio's commitment to NYC's fashion industry runs deep—he's just announced a $74 million pledge to help build a 100,000-square-foot academic building at FIT.

Construction will begin next year, though the design plans have long been laid out: NYC-based SHoP Architects won the National Endowment for the Arts' contest bid back in 2009 (Curbed NY has the original renderings). It'll be located at West 28th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, and will include ten stories, a green roof, a fifth floor North Quad, and a street-level glassy exterior.

Here are a few more renderings, courtesy of SHoP, that'll make you wish you were back in college: