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NY top court considers Columbia expansion plan

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  • MICHAEL VIRTANEN/None
  • Originally published June 1, 2010 at 2:20 p.m., updated December 3, 2009 at 6:48 p.m.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A state redevelopment agency urged New York's top court on Tuesday to approve its use of eminent domain so Columbia University can expand its Ivy League campus over 17 acres in West Harlem.

At oral arguments, Empire State Development Corp. attorney John Casolaro said the Court of Appeals should overturn a divided lower court and conclude this constitutes an appropriate civic project for educational purposes where the state can take land, even when the land goes to a private, not-for-profit institution.

"The Legislature has indicated this is a proper public purpose," Casolaro said. Columbia's proposed $6.3 billion project would include up to 16 new buildings for housing, laboratories and other facilities; two acres of public open space and tree-lined sidewalks in a neighborhood one consultant found "unsanitary, substandard and deteriorated."

The university already owns most of the land.

Norman Siegel, the lawyer representing other land owners, claimed collusion between the school and agency, arguing the corporation's findings of blight were based on vermin, garbage and mold in buildings owned by Columbia, which shouldn't be rewarded with forced sales of others' property. He also noted that the first consultant that made the blight determination was actually Columbia's consultant.

"Not only is that bad faith, it's the quintessential conflict of interest," Siegel said. He argued that the civic purpose that allows eminent domain applies only to public education, not to private schools.

Several dozen opponents filled the courtroom and gathered afterward in a park outside the courthouse.

Nick Sprayregen, whose family owns four self-storage facilities on the site, north of Columbia's current campus, said it was mostly light industrial but over the past six years Columbia bought 35 of 37 businesses under the looming threat that the state would condemn the properties.

"We need to continue to fight for our private property rights," Sprayregen said.

The court is expected to rule next month. In November, the Court of Appeals ruled the state could use eminent domain to force homeowners and businesses to sell their properties for the massive Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, ruling the corporation's finding that the area was blighted was enough to justify taking the land.


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