••• “New York University officials are eyeing lower Manhattan—including a tower at the World Trade Center—as part of their 20-year plan to dramatically expand campus housing, classrooms and other services, The Post has learned. In a letter to the Port Authority and Lower Manhattan Development Corp., NYU Vice President Lynne Brown has requested a meeting with rebuilding officials to determine which downtown sites are available for campus expansion. The university is planning to add 6 million square feet of new space, about half of which would be built in the college’s core area in and around Greenwich Village. But Brown said the university can’t meet all of it needs in the historic neighborhood. ‘For that reason, we would like to discuss lower Manhattan as part of our exploration of remote sites,’ she wrote in a letter dated June 11.” (New York Post)

••• “New York University does not want to erect a massive skyscraper at World Trade Center Tower 5, despite rampant rumors to the contrary, a school official told DNAinfo Tuesday. Although NYU Senior Vice President Lynne Brown wrote a letter to the Port Authority last week mentioning the Tower 5 idea, it is nowhere close to happening, said Alicia Hurley, NYU’s vice president of government affairs and community engagement. ‘Nothing has changed,’ Hurley told DNAinfo. ‘Having the financial wherewithal to pursue and build a 1.3 million-square-foot tower at market rate is not in the cards for us.’ Hurley said Brown only sent the letter because the lower Manhattan community has been aggressively pushing the university to consider the Tower 5 site.” (DNAinfo)

••• Beyoncé and Jay-Z snapped leaving Pepolino. She does glow! (Gossiponthis)

••• Is the city pushing the rezoning of northern Tribeca as a way to block the construction of more quick-and-cheap hotels? The New York Observer says yes.

••• The New York Post‘s food critic loved Tamarind Tribeca, while Gael Greene loved El Bar Artisanal. (via Eater)

••• Rats are swarming subways south of Canal Street. (DNAinfo)

••• Andrew Carmellini to open a non-Italian restaurant at 131 Sullivan with his Locanda Verde partners. Also, his second cookbook comes out in October. The first, Urban Italian, is quite good. (Grub Street)