Manhattanville business owner Nick Sprayregen—the largest private property owner remaining in Columbia’s future campus footprint and one of the expansion’s most vocal critics—said he found a new way to trumpet his opposition: a new blog.
Sprayregen, the owner of Tuck-It-Away Self-Storage, headquartered in West Harlem, said he created the site entitled mylandismine.com in mid-September after the University increased rhetoric about possible eminent domain use to achieve a contiguous campus. Eminent domain, a process that allows the state to take private property in exchange for “just compensation” on the grounds that it will benefit the public good, became a serious possibility when the Empire State Development Corporation deemed the area “blighted,” or underused, in July.
“What is going on here is unconstitutional,” Sprayregen said. He referred to laws on both state and federal levels. “Eminent domain will only be used for public use, and Columbia is not a public institution.”
The Supreme Court decision Kelo v. New London expanded the interpretation of the Fifth Amendment to allow the government to take private property for private use in 2005. The court decision as it stands backs up the transfer of private property to Columbia, so long as it is seen as beneficial to the surrounding community.
Sprayregen said he was pleased by the response to his Web site, and said that “hundreds and hundreds” of people have signed his petition to oppose eminent domain, including visitors from other countries.
“My intent ... is not just to draw attention to abuse in West Harlem, but also to show how widespread abuse is everyday,” he said.
scott.levi@columbiaspectator.com