Manhattanville

The Empire State Development Corporation held its second round of hearings Thursday on Columbia’s General Project Plan for its Manhattanville campus expansion, considering in particular the possibility of the use of eminent domain there.

Though Columbia’s expansion into Manhattanville has been approved at both city and state levels, local opponents of the plan made it passionately clear at public hearings Tuesday that they haven’t finished fighting.

The Empire State Development Corporation, a state agency that regulates economic and urban growth, declared the Manhattanville expansion site “blighted” on July 17. The pivotal decision paves the way for the state to transfer property to the University through eminent domain if it so chooses.

The Empire State Development Corporation announced Thursday its finding that the Manhattanville area where Columbia plans to build a new campus is “blighted,” signaling authority for the state to invoke eminent domain there.

The Empire State Development Corporation announced it found Manhattanville to be "blighted," paving a path for the state to invoke eminent domain—ability of government to forcibly buy property from a private citizen—where Columbia plans to build its new campus.

The Empire State Development Corporation is scheduled to present the blight study and vote on the General Project Plan for Columbia’s proposed expansion into Manhattanville Thursday, marking the potential for an official answer to the question of eminent domain.

Community Board 9 has shifted its focus from Columbia’s now-approved Manhattanville expansion toward more common, community-based issues over the past nine months.
The first half of the academic year was marked by a series of milestones that were part of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, a citywide mandatory review process required for land rezoning, for Columbia’s rezoning of land in Manhattanville.

Columbia’s campus expansion into Manhattanville went from proposal to city-approved project this year amid clamor that ranged from staunch opposition to excitement.

As neighborhood criticism of the West Harlem Local Development Corporation subsides, members of the corporation say they are four months into developing a full community-benefits agreement.

I publish this open letter with the sincere hope that it will lead to meaningful dialogue. Over the past nearly four years, the institution that you head, and the business of which I am president, have been locked in battle.