No Land Grab

From Columbia Spectator:

Seven Columbia University students and one professor ended thier hunger strike on Friday in response to a request by the Coalition to Preserve Community, despite the school administration's failure to move on the protestors' demands.

The strikers initially demanded that Columbia immediately recall the 197-c rezoning plan for Manhattanville, now going through the city’s public review process, and revise it until it met with local community approval. They later presented a list of six more incremental demands on the expansion, including that the University forego the use of eminent domain to acquire private property.

“Five days ago, we were prepared and ready to let them [the strikers] off the hook because we saw the handwriting on the wall,” [Coalition to Preserve Community's Tom] DeMott said. “We did not want them to waste their energy for too long in futile negotiation.”