Comments on: Manhattanville catch up

By: note

note — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:11:39 +0000

actually, this was a promise at least in meetings that the university had refused to absolutely promise on. they’d say things but they wouldn’t be held to it, wouldn’t release it in writing.

By: everyone

everyone — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:03:14 +0000

is falling for the White House’s regurgitations? Really? No, I think you’re full of it. I think leftists just like to claim that “everyone’s” falling for it, when in fact that’s not the case. People mistrust this administration more and more every day. And your analogy was stupid to begin with.

By: Napoleon III

Napoleon III — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:04:02 +0000

Exactly. The FEIS even admits that 2000 or so people would be displaced under the 197-a, which is ver strict. Stringer’s 197-c would be worse.

But the FEIS is only allowed to mention the inevitable gentrification in passing. Take a look at the map and tell me if you believe the neighborhood will stay the same for more than 3 years:

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/07/12/broker_blogwrap_mapping_harlems_development_renaissance.php

By: Alum

Alum — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:16:38 +0000

One important difference is that Columbia is not claiming this is a new development. The media somehow got this idea on its own, even though Columbia has been up-front about the fact that it is merely re-stating existing policy.

It really doesn’t compare to the White House’s deliberate media shell games.

By: btw

btw — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:07:13 +0000

I love how everyone from the Times to the crap papers are gulping up Columbia’s message as if it were a new concession. Reminds me of how everyone in this country is falling for the White House’s continuous regurgitations and distractions.
I don’t mean to bring up such a well-versed topic but it’s a funny paralel

By: this expansion

this expansion — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:12:46 +0000

is the best thing to ever happen to these people, financially. They will be generously compensated to live elsewhere.

By: this is

this is — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:10:45 +0000

totally true. Harlem will eventually just disappear and the whole island will be incredibly wealthy. Hell, even Yonkers is becoming really wealthy. White Plains is another example–used to be the black part of town, and now it’s, well, white.

By: Alum

Alum — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:49:15 +0000

Keep in mind that the 132 units are pretty much all in the northeast corner of the expansion zone. Columbia plans to build from south to north, so those buildings will probably remain untouched until 2025 or so. Chances are that few of the current occupants will still be there by the time Columbia wants to raze the buildings.

The displacements you mention will also be gradual. The construction will take 20 to 25 years, and the resulting impact will accumulate over the same period.

The key question, then, is what would happen in the area if Columbia didn’t expand as it hopes to? Given what is happening to rents elsewhere, I think the area would gentrify and that most of the same people would be displaced anyway. It might take a few years longer, but the neighborhood will change regardless.

So, which is better — a more expensive neighborhood with lots of new space for Columbia, or a more expensive neighborhood with a lot less space for CU and more for private developers?

By: andrew

andrew — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:55:22 +0000

First of all, there are 132 UNITS in the Mville expansion zone, and 291 people that would be displaced.

Secondly, if you had actually bothered to read some of the EIS, it mentions that a “signficant adverse impact” of the project could be the displacement of up to 3,300 people around the zone due to rent increases and residential pressures due to addition of large numbers of CU affiliates. And I believe that that figure is an understatement.

So its more like 3,500 people will lose their homes than 132. And, unsurprisingly, Columbia doesn’t care, as it has not in the past.

By: Am I Wrong?

Am I Wrong? — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:30:15 +0000

I thought the snark was pretty evenly spread around?

By: And Unsurprisingly

And Unsurprisingly — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:23:56 +0000

Columbia doesn’t care much for them.

By: Harlem

Harlem — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 03:05:20 +0000

is not Columbia’s community. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but they don’t care for us much.

By: Assclown

Assclown — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:11:46 +0000

It’s 132 people we’re talking about and they are going to lose. Thankfully.

By: Franz Joseph I

Franz Joseph I — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:04:09 +0000

Yikes. Welcome to college. Columbia is a large bureaucracy with real estate holdings.

What makes you think that the community is so great or that their interests trump students?

But the FEIS process is a joke. It’s beholden to wealthy interests and can’t consider unannounced development, that is all the gentrification that will surely happen in Manhattanville anyway.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:04:42 +0000

Emma Jacobs is exactly the type of person I was expecting to meet at Columbia when I was looking at it in high school. She speaks up for people! I always thought that Columbia was a progressive forward thinking school that worked with the City of New York. The more I learn about it and the more I learn about New York City, Columbia as an institution falls short. I think it is more a question of why do people matriculate at Columbia when they are so apathetic to its place and its community? I will for stay tuned for more info, because I care about my school, I care about my community. Mind and hand have to stay together.