« Issue of Eminent Domain May Hinder Columbia in Harlem | Main | Doctoroff Says Community is Right: Atlantic Yards Should Have Gone Through ULURP »
December 12, 2007
Columbia Wants To Grow
Black Star News, Editorial
Subject to the outcome of the negotiations for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), The Black Star News endorses the proposed Columbia expansion.
Ironically, Black Star News cites Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards CBA as an example of working with the local community, even though folks in West Harlem distance themselves from Ratner's process of forming a coalition of handpicked groups (some of which were founded for the express purpose of creating primarily African-American groups to support the project):
At the same time, Columbia officials say the university is negotiating a Community Benefits Agreement with the West Harlem Local Development Corporation. This is good: When the developer Bruce Ratner's Forest City Co. embarked on developing the Atlantic Navy Yard and downtown Brooklyn, it reached an unprecedented pact with the local community there, guaranteeing jobs and affordable housing.
NoLandGrab: It's amazing how wealthy corporations with poor track records in the community can always find SOMEONE to believe that, this time, things will really be different.
Posted by lumi at December 12, 2007 5:38 AM