New Delhi Opens on 55th Street

By Matthew Goldenberg

May 27, 2013

As part of the University of Chicago’s effort to revitalize commercial activity in Hyde Park, several new restaurants and stores havebeen established along 53rd and 55th Streets throughout the 2012–2013 school year. Next Autumn Quarter, a 55th Street branch of New Delhi is scheduled to join the lineup.

The University’s Vice President for Civic Engagement, Derek Douglas, said the venture was win-win for the people and businesses of Hyde Park, as well as for the city of New Delhi. “This will really stimulate growth along 55th Street, as well providing much-needed residential space for New Delhi’s citizens,” Douglas said.

The project has been several years in the making. Positive economic impact on the Hyde Park neighborhood has always been a long-term goal of the University, which has supported the renovation of many businesses, including Harper Theater. The current project has also coincided with New Delhi’s interest, and need, in expansion.

“New Delhi is a large city, and we were running out of roomfor new residential and commercial buildings,” said New Delhi’s Mayor Meera Aggarwal. “Our new location in Hyde Park will allow us to continue with domestic expansion while maintaining an international feel.”While the opening of a satellite location in another country is unprecedented, said Aggarwal, “It is also inevitable. The constant spread of globalization means that one day people who live in New York City may actually live in satellite locations in Pyongyang.”

University officials credit themselves for the success of the New Delhi plan that brings something completely new to the South Side. The idea, Douglas claimed, began with the very people it is meant to benefit residents of Hyde Park.”People kept coming to me and saying, ‘Derek, we need a New Delhi’”, said Douglas. “We certainly delivered.”

Douglas upholds the opening of New Delhi as another example of the University’s response to public demands, citing the excitement over the opening of the new Center for Care and Discovery as an example. He dismissed the notion that what the people really want is a delicatessen.