–Photo via the Harlem Eye |
After a student protest and subsequent squabbling, the NY1 channel ran its story on the fate of Floridita restaurant, a locally-owned business that the Manhattanville expansion may displace.
Both current CC student Andrew Lyubarsky and CU public affairs, who have been battling over the story for the past couple of weeks, made an appearance in the piece.
Lyubarsky is demanding that Columbia either respect Floridita’s lease or promise to forge a relocation deal that is approved by the restaurant’s owner. CU public affairs claimed now is too early to start negotiating.
-DJB
4 Comments
@due diligence Why do you know Floridita was behind on rent? Do you work at accounts receivables? Floridita maintained they were current on all rents and taxes, the issue was water charges which were settled in October with Columbia discounting 30% of the outstanding charges due to faulty meters.
Do your homework before you make uninformed statements.
@oh yeah looking good there andrew
@I have to applaud Lyubarsky and SCEG for once. I think in the past SCEG has done some polarizing stuff (like storming low plaza in April, conflating Manhattanville with unrelated issues during the Hunger strike and being condescending towards people who oppose them) but I think this is a much more sensible, practical approach to the issue. I do think the University should have to pay fair value for Floridita and come to a mutually agreed upon deal, even though I support the expansion. You can’t hire a dean specializing in Ethics one day and then start bullying people out of their land the next – it’s very un-capitalistic and unconstitutional. So this makes sense – expose the administration’s nefarious dealings and dishonest statements to the public, and force them to pay fair value for a necessary expansion.
@except floridita is a rental property and until very recently the restaurant owner was way behind on rent. so no one is bullying anyone out of his land.