Eric Santomauro-Stenzel Oct 15
“Columbia University, New York City’s largest landlord, is facing increased community resistance to its ongoing Manhattanville campus expansion, located between W. 125th and 134th Streets.
Since Columbia won a lengthy legal battle in 2010, the campus has grown to include residential, artistic, science, business and gathering spaces. While most of the Manhattanville campus has already been constructed, Columbia plans to further develop over the next two decades. One of the university’s most recent acquisitions, 2.5 acres of land along the Hudson River, is yet to be redeveloped, and community members want to see it serve them.
Community members say they are concerned because the project is driving neighborhood gentrification, and the benefits Columbia previously promised them have not been fully realized.
The Empire State Development Corporation, a state development agency, used eminent domain in 2008 to enable the development. In 2009 Columbia sought community support for the project by signing a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), committing $170 million in benefits to the community. Recent reporting by Columbia Daily Spectator, however, revealed that promised community spaces have been hard for residents to access, and the school’s local investments are a small fraction of its tax exemptions.”
– The Indypendent
defendharlem.org 
Leave a comment