A state court dismissed a case brought against Columbia and the city Thursday, effectively validating the environmental review process for the University’s Manhattanville expansion.
As part of the approval process for the 17-acre new campus, the city was required to take a “hard look” at the possibilities of adverse impact of the expansion, specifically of a planned eight-story underground space that will contain parking and energy facilities. In its Final Environmental Impact Statement, the New York City Department of City Planning found the impact of Columbia’s project acceptable.
Nick Sprayregen, one of two remaining owners of private property in Manhattanville, brought the suit on grounds that the city and the University had not employed outside experts to review the underground “bathtub,” as it is commonly called—a space that would run from 125th Street to 133rd Street and from Broadway to 12th Avenue and extend seven stories underground—specifically with regards to earthquake and flooding hazards. The bathtub will house business school programs, storage facilities, scientific research laboratories, and an MTA bus depot. The suit was filed under Tuck-It-Away Associates, Sprayregen’s storage and moving company that owns four properties in the expansion site.
“It’s not necessarily that they can’t build the bathtub, but they have to go back and take an independent look at the issue, and we feel they didn’t do that yet,” Sprayregen said.
State Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon found the city “gave due consideration to pertinent environmental factors,” calling the allegation “specious” in an eight-page decision. She also dismissed Tuck-It-Away’s claim that the city did not provide satisfactory notice of the review and public hearings.
“That Petitioners disagree with the findings of the City is not a basis to invalidate the FEIS [Final Environmental Impact Statement],” the decision states.
“We are disappointed, and we are giving serious consideration to an appeal,” said Norman Siegel, an attorney for Sprayregen and former director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The court rejected Sprayregen’s petition that the city did not adequately consider an alternative plan developed by local Community Board 9, which covers W. 110th to W. 155th streets. CB9 developed this 197-a plan prior to the University’s expansion plans, intended to guide future development in the area. Part of it provides an alternative proposal for the Manhattanville expansion, which was removed when City Planning approved it.
Community activists have long criticized both Columbia and city government for passing the University’s 197-c expansion plan incorporation of CB9’s alternatives. Thursday’s decision marks legal approval of the selection process of the University’s plans.
“The city was entitled to reject the 197-a Plan for any rational reason, with or without regard to the Bathtub,” Solomon wrote in the case decision, calling the claim “without merit.”
