Amid Columbia University’s ongoing border skirmishes–the result of its planned 17-acre expansion northward–even the name of the embattled neighborhood is contested.
Some favor Mahattanville, a moniker harking back to the 19th-century Quaker village that sprang up, as contemporary guidebooks put it, a whole “eight miles from New York.” Others contend the area is simply an Read More
Columbia’s prez, Lee Bollinger, almost breaks a sweat when he talks about the school’s plans to move ahead with expansion plans, reports Crain’s. “A note of impatience frequently creeps into the voice” of the ever-polished Mr. Bollinger when he talks about Manhattanville, says the article.
Apparently the former law prof found himself nonetheless Read More
For Nick Sprayregen, the owner of a set of West Harlem warehouses in the footprint of a 17-acre expansion planned by Columbia University, there was a brief glimmer of hope earlier this year. The landlord, to the surprise of most everyone watching, won a state appellate court case that challenged the state’s use of eminent Read More
Columbia University’s proposed 17-acre expansion is set for a test June 1, when the state’s top court is scheduled to hear arguments on the use of eminent domain, a power that was ruled unconstitutional by a state appellate court in December in a humiliating blow for the Ivy League school and the state. (The Read More
In the absence of students (college kids need extremely long breaks), events continue to occur at New York’s institutions of higher learning.
Columbia’s J-school, for example, announced that it has raised $15 million to start the Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
“With the establishment of the Tow Center, we expect to Read More
State Senator Bill Perkins is apparently not happy about the state’s choice of consultants.
One consultant, specifically: AKRF, the New York–based firm that has established itself as the unchallenged king of environmental review in the city and state, dominating the field of government contracts.
The source of angst for Mr. Perkins is Read More
Harlem state senator asks Paterson for moratorium on land takings, no appeal in Columbia Read More
If approved by administrators, a new gender-neutral housing policy proposed by the student council would allow opposite-sex roommates at Columbia.
The Post is all over this.
“Columbia University students will soon be able to live in sin — on their parents’ dime,” the paper writes. Boys and girls will be able to “shack Read More
Another blow:
The denizens of Columbia had to deal with a film crew today–but not for a major motion picture, alas, or even Gossip Girl.
Smuggler Productions is shooting a Cottonelle commercial.
Columbia University, which for years has been looking to expand its Morningside Heights campus into West Harlem, suffered a surprising defeat today when, as Eliot Brown reported, a state court ruled against the use of eminent domain.
There’s been longstanding opposition to the expansion, both inside and outside the university, but until today Read More
