The Coalition to Preserve Community demonstrates at the offices of Governor Paterson and the Empire State Development Corporation.
“The purpose of this was twofold: We wanted to request in a letter to Gov. Paterson to declare a statewide moratorium on eminent domain, and we also wanted to demand that the ESDC drop their appeal,” Harlem Tenants Council president Nellie Bailey said.
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PRESS RELEASE
COALITION TO PRESERVE COMMUNITY, PO BOX 50, NYC, NY 10027
Contact: Tom DeMott: (917) 969-0669; Nellie Bailey: 646-812-5188;
Espanol: Luis Tejada (212) 234-3002
On Thursday, January 28, 2009, from 11:30 AM until 1:00PM, members of Coalition to Preserve Community (CPC) and its supporters will gather in front of the offices of Governor David Paterson and the Empire State Development Corporation at 633 3rd Ave. (between 41St. and
40th Streets) to demand that ESDC reverse its decision to appeal the historic ruling of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division against the State’s seizure of private property for Columbia University’s expansion of its 116th street campus into West Harlem.
Representatives from various neighborhoods facing development plans using eminent domain will join CPC members to call on Governor Paterson to declare a moratorium on eminent domain. Letters supporting both demands will be delivered to his and ESDC’s offices.
On December 3rd the Appellate Division by a 3-2 vote ruled “the exercise of eminent domain power by the New York State Urban Development Corporation (d/b/a ESDC) to benefit a private elite education institution is violative of the Taking Clause of the U.S
Constitution, article 1 & 7 of the New York Constitution and the first principles of the social contract.” In a scathing decision, the court detailed a riveting account of Columbia University’s collusion with the State to gain 100% of a 17-acre parcel between 125th St. and 133rd St. and 12th Ave. and Broadway for an expansion projected to cost 6 billion dollars.
Two separate lawsuits challenging the eminent domain determination were filed by property owners in the development footprint, Nick Sprayregen, Parminder Kaur, Amanjit Kaur, and P.G.
Singh. Sprayregen was represented by noted civil rights attorney Norman Siegel and attorney Philip Van Buren. Protesters will offer their continued support for property owners whom Columbia is smearing as selfish hold-outs preventing progress rather than owners entitled to decide the future of their own properties. CPC will point out Columbia’s elitist agenda and its manipulation of its political and financial connections.
Siegel and Sprayregen will address the audience. Invited speakers also include State Senator Bill Perkins, who within a day of the court ruling called on Governor Paterson to order a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain pending legislative revision of the much-abused New York State condemnation laws. Support will be offered by and for businesses and residents in East Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn and elsewhere who are facing eminent domain abuse as part of huge gentrification developments.
Members of CPC will be picketing to support this historic victory for neighborhoods throughout New York City decimated by eminent domain abuse and to show their vital resistance to oppression by both private and government institutions. We demand NO APPEAL; NO EMINENT
DOMAIN; NO DISPLACEMENT OF RESIDENTIAL TENANTS AND WORKERS; NO BIOHAZARD LEVEL 3 LABS; FULL DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS BY COLUMBIA TO ESDC AND RELEASE OF FOIL DOCUMENTS ORDERED BY THE COURT.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Demonstration at Governor Paterson's New York Office and the Empire State Development Corporation
THE FOLLOWING IS A LETTER WHICH WAS SENT BY THE COALITION TO PRESERVE COMMUNITY TO THE ESDC:
Dennis M. Mullen, President & CEO Empire State Development Corp.
30 South Pearl Street
30 South Pearl Street
Albany, NY 12245
January 21, 2010
Dear Mr. Mullen,
We are a six year-old community group of residents, workers, and
businesses in West Harlem writing to urge you to withdraw your recent
appeal of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division’s ruling in Kaur et al.
v. New York State Urban Development Corporation.
As the Court’s ruling in Kaur made clear, the record “overwhelmingly
establishes that the true beneficiary of the scheme to redevelop
Manhattanville is not the community that is supposedly blighted, but
rather Columbia University, a private elite education institution.”
The Court also found that Columbia’s proposed expansion was not a civic
project and that any public benefit was “incremental” to the massive
private benefits to be enjoyed by the University. The Court ruled that
the condemnation process overseen by ESDC had found blight where there was none, violated both the state and federal constitutions, and was
characterized by secrecy, conflict of interest, and collusion.
It was clear to the Court and it is evident to us, that the use of
eminent domain in Manhattanville was developer-initiated and
developer-driven. The City and State had no plan for Manhattanville
until Columbia provided one to them. ESDC sought no competitive
proposals and in fact completely disregarded the inclusive, diverse and
intelligent 197A plan created by CB9 over the course of more than ten
years. The ESDC has merely served as a public tool in effecting the
desires of the University which has funded the condemnation process and
“shared” its consultants. ESDC’s collusion with the University allowed
Columbia to use the threat of eminent domain to intimidate residents,
commercial tenants, and businesses and to acquire properties at
depressed prices.
We have been especially dismayed by the total disregard of the will of
the community and the democratic process in the condemnation
proceedings. From the time of the announcement of the proposed
expansion, this community has been steadfastly united in its demand
that eminent domain be taken off the table. ESDC, however, paid no
attention to the wishes of those most closely affected by its actions.
ESDC’s lack of respect for the community was further evidenced at the
public hearing held by your office. No officers of ESDC deigned to
appear. Instead, the hundreds of community members who attended and
scores of people who testified were heard by one hearing officer, a
stenographer, and a tape recorder. ESDC also refused to provide
documents sought by local businesses facing condemnation despite
multiple court orders and knowing full well that its actions were in
effect excluding those documents from the record the Appellate Division
would review.
“Few policies have done more to destroy community and opportunity for
minorities than eminent domain,” the Appellate Division quoted in Kaur.
“The instant case is clear evidence of that reality. The unbridled
use of eminent domain not only disproportionately affects minority
communities but threatens the basic principles of property as contained
in the Fifth Amendment.” The destruction of our primarily working class
Black and Latino community can be avoided. It is time for ESDC to
reassert itself as an independent governmental entity serving the best
interests of all the people of the City and State, not just wealthy
private developers, and acting transparently on their behalf. Withdraw
your appeal now.
Sincerely,
Members of the Coalition to Preserve Community
CONTACT THE COALITION TO PRESERVE COMMUNITY: Call (212) 666-6426,
646-812-5188, or (212) 234-3002 (se habla espanol) or go to
Columbia Vs the Community
COLUMBIA'S PLAN AND THE COMMUNITY'S 197A PLAN ARE FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE
Columbia University is planning a huge second campus in the West Harlem, spanning from below 125th street to 134th street. The university is buying up acres of property and lobbying city and state government agencies and elected officials in search of zoning changes which would dramatically increase the value of the current property Columbia owns there now and whatever land it is actively seeking to acquire. Columbia wants to evict businesses and residents who live in the area between 125th and 134th Streets from Broadway to the river and beyond. On a third of the property, it intends to construct biotech labs (including BioSafety Level 3) in which scientists could experiment with dangerous and potentially deadly agents such as Avian Flu, SARS, and the Plague. These agents are transmitted by air, are highly contagious, and cause serious health problems. These labs should not be in a residential neighborhood.
Community Board 9 has worked with the Pratt Center for Community Development on the design of its community-initiated 197-a development plan, and continues to work with Pratt Center as New York City governmental agencies evaluate the 197-a plan against Columbia's 197-c proposal for an expanded campus and biotech center. On the Pratt Center's website, you can read an introduction to the community's 197-a plan, or for a more comprehensive look, you can read the full text of the community's 197-a plan. There is information about the expansion on Columbia University's website, where you can read about most aspects of its expansion proposal that have been made to the public from Columbia's perspective. (Note: Columbia continues to conceal many aspects of the plan, and contends that many details of its proposal have not yet been determined.)
June 10, 2006 — Upper Manhattan Rally for Low-Income Housing and Against Columbia
The Coalition to Preserve Community joined with Project Remain / Nos Quedamos on June 10, 2006 to co-sponsor a rally to preserve and expand low-income housing in Upper Manhattan, and to protest the Columbia expansion plan and the actions of other developers seeking to displace our uptown communities. Thousands of residents from Harlem, Manhattanville, Washington Heights, and Inwood, marched from 135th street and Broadway---at the plaza of 3333 Broadway, where thousands are at imminent risk of displacement---more than 65 blocks north to Dyckman Street.
Columbia University is planning a huge second campus in the West Harlem, spanning from below 125th street to 134th street. The university is buying up acres of property and lobbying city and state government agencies and elected officials in search of zoning changes which would dramatically increase the value of the current property Columbia owns there now and whatever land it is actively seeking to acquire. Columbia wants to evict businesses and residents who live in the area between 125th and 134th Streets from Broadway to the river and beyond. On a third of the property, it intends to construct biotech labs (including BioSafety Level 3) in which scientists could experiment with dangerous and potentially deadly agents such as Avian Flu, SARS, and the Plague. These agents are transmitted by air, are highly contagious, and cause serious health problems. These labs should not be in a residential neighborhood.
Community Board 9 has worked with the Pratt Center for Community Development on the design of its community-initiated 197-a development plan, and continues to work with Pratt Center as New York City governmental agencies evaluate the 197-a plan against Columbia's 197-c proposal for an expanded campus and biotech center. On the Pratt Center's website, you can read an introduction to the community's 197-a plan, or for a more comprehensive look, you can read the full text of the community's 197-a plan. There is information about the expansion on Columbia University's website, where you can read about most aspects of its expansion proposal that have been made to the public from Columbia's perspective. (Note: Columbia continues to conceal many aspects of the plan, and contends that many details of its proposal have not yet been determined.)
June 10, 2006 — Upper Manhattan Rally for Low-Income Housing and Against Columbia
The Coalition to Preserve Community joined with Project Remain / Nos Quedamos on June 10, 2006 to co-sponsor a rally to preserve and expand low-income housing in Upper Manhattan, and to protest the Columbia expansion plan and the actions of other developers seeking to displace our uptown communities. Thousands of residents from Harlem, Manhattanville, Washington Heights, and Inwood, marched from 135th street and Broadway---at the plaza of 3333 Broadway, where thousands are at imminent risk of displacement---more than 65 blocks north to Dyckman Street.
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