N1: Manhattanville is an area crossed by elevated subway lines, gas stations and warehouses. Columbia administrators say the land is underused and that it would help revitalize the area. Columbia's VP for Government and Community Affairs Maxine Griffith says using the property to expand its acreage will improve student and faculty relationships.
A1: So that means if you are a law student or faculty member
interested in patent law for science, you can have lunch with your colleagues; you can do projects together; you can walk that 10 minute back and forth. And that's really, in large part, what a
university environment is about.
N2: Columbia says it must compete with other Ivy League institutions for its share of students. The school plans to expand slowly, building over the course of 25 years. Columbia's Senior Executive VP Robert Kasdin says the university's gain will only help the Manhattanville community.
A2: There will be approximately 9,000 new jobs created in
Manhattanville. And 30% of those workers live in northern
Manhattan, that would mean 33,000 employment opportunities for people in Northern Manhattan.
N3: But the school's neighbors wonder what good the new jobs will do if the people who get those jobs do not have homes. Arnie Cox has lived in Manhattanville for 45 years but says that might change soon. He is 79 years old, retired and says he cannot afford to pay more for rent. Cox says although the university will not force residents to move, his own pocketbook will.
A3: I was paying 5, around 4, 5 hundred dollars, cuz I been there so long, you know? Now, the students have it and are paying $2,500 a month.
N4: Cox is considering moving to Florida. He might not be alone. Community advocate Nellie Bailey says landlords have started to drop out of Mitchell-Lama, a program intended to help house low and middle-income residents.
A4: Since the university announced its expansion, the landlord has opted out of this Mitchell Lama program. If tenants do not qualify for a special voucher issued by HUD, tenants are in fact looking at paying market rents and I understand that a number of families have been forced to move. I've heard a range from 100 to 200 families.
N5: Columbia's Kasdin wouldn't speak directly to whether or not the university's expansion would displace residents but agreed it was an issue that needed to be addressed, just not now. Kasdin did say that the university is still discussing whether to use eminent domain or the taking of private property through a governmental agency, in its dealings with the neighborhood. I'm Kimberly Holmes, Columbia Radio News.