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Isaiah "Obie" Bing asked a question during the second of two meetings held last weekend about Columbia University’s development project in Inwood. PHOTO: Gloria Pazmiño
Just two weeks shy of the City Council’s scheduled vote on proposed development at the Columbia University Baker Field athletic complex in northern Inwood, Northern Manhattanites gathered at two public meetings over the weekend to learn about the plan, which has been heavily criticized by local residents and public officials who believe the university has not agreed to offset its project with enough community benefits.
Negotiations have also embroiled local politicians, who exchanged harsh words before publicly burying the hatchet during the meetings.
The new complex is planned to include a 48,000-square-foot Campbell Sports center at the corner of W. 218th Street and Broadway and renewed public waterfront access at the Boathouse Marsh next to Inwood Hill Park.
City Council Member Robert Jackson led the first of the two meetings on Fri., March 18 at Good Shepherd School where Columbia University briefed the audience on the details of the project and addressed concerns raised by the public. The meeting was also attended by State Senator Adriano Espaillat, City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, State Assembly Member Guillermo Linares, and Congressman Charles Rangel.
“The goal is to reach a comprehensive and enforceable agreement with Columbia University,” Jackson told the audience of about 80. “We’re in this together and there’s no east of Broadway or west of Broadway division, we must care about our neighbors and band together.”
Members of the community raised a number of concerns about the project, ranging from safety and maintenance to the level of access to the recreational facilities that community residents will be granted.
Thus far, Columbia's executive vice president for facilities Joe Ienuso has said that the track will be fully accessible to residents during the posted hours of operation, and that the tennis courts will be available to those who buy a membership.
The university is also offering to provide 19 new scholarships, access to Columbia Lions’ sporting events, summer camps, and youth programs for children. In addition, Columbia plans to restore and improve the Boathouse Marsh and deed it over to the city making it fully accessible to the public.
But local residents are saying that’s not enough.
“This project doesn’t give us the things we want or need in this community. We are not getting anything that’s even proportional to what Harlem has received,” said community advocate Gail Addiss, referring to the university’s negotiations for property in the Manhattanville section of West Harlem. “It’s time to hold Columbia accountable for years of lack of transparency, and land they have not paid to use for years.”
In reference to the long term maintenance and accessibility of the site, a Columbia spokesperson said that the university “remains committed to continuing to work with elected officials and the Inwood community to provide long-term enjoyment of the Boathouse Marsh and Columbia’s athletic facilities by both local residents and the University community.”
During the second meeting, held on Sun., March 20, which State Senator Espaillat referred to as not “a competing meeting but a complementary one” to Friday’s, a crowd of about 150 people packed the gym at Northeastern Academy on W. 215th Street just a couple of streets away from the project site.
Audience members raised concerns about the amount of time construction would take and the disruption to traffic and pedestrian pathways, particularly on the W. 218th Street side, a major corridor connecting two schools. Columbia's Ienuso said that the construction period for the Campbell Sports center could take up to a year and that there would be a crane on site for about four months, a period they are hoping takes place during the summer months to avoid school traffic disruptions.
Yet the looming April 6 deadline has community residents thinking that the efforts have come a little too late, voicing concern that there isn’t enough time to change the plans. In response, Ienuso assured members of the community that the university plans to remain engaged in a dialogue, and that it has appointed a community liaison. “This is not the end of our conversation, it’s only the beginning,” he said.
After the second meeting, Espaillat outlined the work that lays ahead.
“[Columbia has] to come up with a roadmap as to how we’re going to get there collectively with officials, the community board, and community advocates,” he said. “We need a binding community benefit package that the entire community is comfortable with, and a mechanism for accountability.”
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