No Land Grab

For readers who are following the Columbia University land grab in West Harlem, here are links to the coverage of yesterday's hearing at City Hall:

Seeking to defuse outrage over the threatened use of eminent domain in its planned Harlem expansion, the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, and Vice President Robert Kasdin say they would not use the procedure to acquire residential property.

Local community board residents and members of the City Council, however, are insisting that the option be taken off the table entirely, including its possible use against commercial landowners.

Opponents and backers of Columbia's planned expansion into Manhattanville took their fight to City Hall Wednesday in a packed and tense public hearing. "We will be here for as long as it takes," said Tony Avella, chair of the City Council's Zoning Committee, told the hundreds of people who filled the gallery for the mid-day session that stretched on for more than six hours of testimony from both sides of the battles.

"This is the people's house. We will make sure everybody has a right to be heard," Avella said.

“I want to keep my properties where they are,” Mr. Sprayregen told The Observer today outside of a City Council public hearing on the expansion. “Failing that, I would entertain a swap of a few properties across the street so that I can remain in the community. But besides that, unless they want to first take eminent domain off the table or are forced to, I do not want to negotiate my removal.”