SCEG, Dems Gather for M’ville Panel

Like-minded student activists joined forces to “Remember Manhattanville” Wednesday evening in Lerner Hall.

The Columbia College Democrats teamed up with members of the Student Coalition on Expansion and Gentrification, bringing City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) and Community Board 9 member Will Simpkins—who is also associate director of Barnard’s New York Civic Engagement Program—to discuss Columbia’s campus expansion project uptown.

The Democrats viewed the event as an opportunity to learn about the expansion dispute and help them articulate what role they should be playing, while SCEG members took on a teaching role.

Democrats’ media coordinator Jonathan Backer, CC ’10, said the Dems reached out to SCEG a couple of weeks ago, after having cultivated an interest in such a forum for a while.

“Right now, CU College Dems haven’t put in enough time thinking about this issue and finding our place,” Backer said. He explained that the Dems were eager to hear from SCEG because of their extended involvement in the Manhattanville debate. “We want to learn from them,” he said. “They’ve done a lot of critical thinking about these issues.”

But both Backer and SCEG’s Victoria Ruiz, CC ’09, made it clear that the evening’s shared discourse does not signify an ideological alignment on Manhattanville.
Councilman Avella, who—as chair of the Zoning and Franchises Committee—is responsible for reviewing plans to alter cityscapes like Columbia’s, spoke about his opposition to the council’s final vote for the University’s vision.

“We went down in flames at the City Council. But we put up a good fight,” Avella said, citing what he believes to be flaws in the city’s rezoning process. The councilman went on to describe the new legislation he is preparing that will transform the nature of the mandatory public review procedure. He then added that he will be running for mayor of New York in 2009.

CB9’s Simpkins also raised several key concerns about the University’s project, paying particular attention to the contentious issue of affordable housing. As for eminent domain, he believes that Columbia must take it off the table. “I think that’s something that’s worth fighting for hard core,” he said.

Backer said he hoped that this event will serve as a catalyst for further collaboration among campus activist groups.

“There’s too much of a trend of looking inward. CU Dems are as guilty or more so than anyone,” he explained, asserting that the organization was ready for change. Backer said he is eager to get past “little differences” between groups that have generally common goals, and move on to the greater task of engaging important debates—like that which surrounds Columbia’s future in Manhattanville.

Yet Ruiz is looking toward even broader horizons. “Conversations like this definitely work to merge student groups,” she said, “but when it comes to the issue of expansion, it’s about mobilizing an entire student body.”

betsy.morais@columbiaspectator.com