Students and Community Members Confront Columbia on the Fate of West Harlem
In 1968 both students and community members coordinated two occupations on Columbia University property. These groups chiefly sought two things:
- A promise by Columbia not to move forward on the construction of a gymnasium on top of Morningside Park.
- An end to Columbia's ties with the IDA (the Institute for Defense Analysis, a think-tank associated with the U.S. Department of Defense).
After two major demonstrations and a number of arrests Columbia backed down and responded to student and community demands. They cut ties with the IDA and decided to build the gymnasium underneath the north end of the campus. Now in 2007, the same neighborhood is facing a development scheme eerily similar to that of 1968. Two plans have been proposed: Manhattan Community Board 9 197-a Plan developed over five years, with at least some input from West Harlem residents. Columbia's plan is to:
"expand between 125th and 133rd streets on a strip parallel to the Hudson River. The land would be used to build a business school, laboratories and an arts and culture center." (From AM New York)
Residents and business owners rightly feel that Columbia is stepping on their toes. In the past few years all of Harlem has seen a trend toward gentrification. Those people who were once afraid to be seen above 110th street are no longer. The most pressing concern of Columbia's opposition is the possible use of eminent domain by the university. Columbia could use this tactic to evict business owners and residents of West Harlem.
In some respects, Columbia has remained a citadel within the neighborhood. Columbia students bear a complex burden. They can be simultaneously the initiators, and the combatants against gentrification. Columbia students, recognizing this have formed a group called "Columbia Students Against Expansion and Gentrification." What's most important is that the students appear to be working in concert with the community.
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