Manhattanville Construction Continues Despite Court Ruling

A state court blocked Columbia University from using eminent domain to build a new campus, but community members remain concerned

Last week’s state court ruling that blocked Columbia University from using eminent domain was a big win for a handful of small businesses that have been fighting for years to halt Columbia’s planned Manhattanville campus.

But at ground level this week, little seems to have changed. The demolition of buildings, already underway before the court ruling, continues, as does a sense in the community that there’s no halting the Manhattanville project now — even if Columbia loses its appeal of the state court decision.

Demolition of Hudson Moving and Storage on Broadway at 129th Street across from Floridita

“It won’t stop them,” said Tom Kappner, a member of the Coalition to Preserve Community. Columbia already controls 80 percent of the land it wants for the campus, which would be located between 125th and 133rd streets from Broadway to 12th Avenue, as well as north of 125th Street and east of Broadway from 131st to 134th streets.

If the university had the power to invoke eminent domain, which was previously granted by state officials last December, officials could go ahead with the project and force out the few remaining businesses. But even without eminent domain, the university could still build most of the project, although it will require going back through the lengthy approval process with a new plan.

Columbia President Lee Bollinger said the university would appeal, and he was “optimistic” it would win, but he declined to comment on what officials will do if eminent domain can’t be used, according to the Columbia Spectator. But work on the new campus is already underway.

Some local businesses in the midst of the construction zone have struggled since heavy construction work began earlier this year.

Business owner Ramon Diaz, owner of the Floridita diner, bakery and tapas bar at 125th Street and Broadway, leases his property from the university. During the last few months, he has dealt with blocked parking spaces, construction supplies obstructing his signs, and even work being done on the sidewalk right outside his front door.

With business down about 50 percent since construction started, Diaz plans to close the tapas bar portion of his restaurant on Jan. 1 and says 11 employees will lose their jobs.

“I feel horrible, but I have no choice,” he said, adding that the university has done nothing but offer to relocate him at a price he couldn’t afford. “I don’t think there’s been any sincerity in their dealings with the community. Nothing has been done with good will.”

Many employees at Floridita’s diner, an adjacent restaurant in the same building, have worked there for more than 20 years and are worried they’ll have nowhere to go if the diner shuts down. In all, Diaz employs about 40 people.

Ramon Diaz, owner of Floridita

Floridita’s business depends, in part, on the 60 to 70 cab drivers who fill up at the adjacent gas station and come in to eat every day between shifts. But Columbia has announced that it will close down 129th Street, the road that borders the gas station and restaurant, in early 2010 – a move that will eliminate commonly used free parking spaces for cab drivers.

“This is like our home. I’ve been coming here for a while,” said Abdul G, a cab driver who eats at Floridita everyday. “Looking for a new place is like moving to a new state.” He says with the construction, it can now take him up to half an hour to park his cab.

Despite headlines in major papers across the city, many people interviewed in the community weren’t aware of last week’s court decision.

One of them, John Rodriguez, is unemployed and has family in the neighborhood who worry they might lose their housing when Columbia expands. He thinks the university has treated the neighborhood unfairly throughout the expansion process.

“It’s outrageous. They do whatever they want,” he said. “They treat the poor people like nothing.”

University officials declined an interview following last week’s court decision, but have reached out to the community through town hall meetings and a website devoted to the project, among other things. The project is expected to create about 6,000 new jobs in Manhattanville upon completion.

Kappner, the community coalition member, says many people in the neighborhood are likely to feel the effects as the project moves forward. He expects many low-income people will be forced out of their homes, businesses in the area will shift to more high-end establishments, and the area will lose an overall sense of community.

“There’s kind of a feeling that their days are numbered,” he said, adding that while some in the neighborhood will remain, it’s the people with fewer resources who will suffer the most. “It’s a real community, it’s real people, people who are living the American dream, who are working hard and making a life for themselves and their family. They’ll be denied that when the area gets upscaled.”

Many involved in the eminent domain case suspect it may go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court – something that could take years. But in the meantime, construction continues, with doors expected to open on the first phase of the project in 2015.

Tagged as: columbia university, construction, court, eminent domain, floridita, manhattanville, west harlem