University Modifies Manhattanville Plans - Columbia Adds, Shifts Open Space; Expansion Critics Applaud Flexibility

University Modifies Manhattanville Plans
Columbia Adds, Shifts Open Space; Expansion Critics Applaud Flexibility
By Erin Durkin
Issue date: 7/7/06 Section: News


The new plan will shift a square of "privately owned, publicly accessible" open space farther west, closer to the Hudson River. The space will now occupy the block between Broadway and 12th Avenue between 130th and 131st Streets.

Columbia has made some revisions to its plans for a new campus in Manhattanville in response to community concerns over the campus's accessibility.

The new plan will change the location of publicly accessible open space on the proposed campus, add additional open space, and alter the heights of some buildings. University officials said that the changes would bring Columbia's Manhattanville plan closer to the 197-a plan, a different proposal for West Harlem development passed by Community Board 9 that has been supported by many area residents.

University officials hope the recent modifications will change the perception of residents who have complained that the new campus would be a hostile environment to anyone not affiliated with Columbia."We want this area to feel like part of Harlem physically," Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin said.

CB9 chair Jordi Reyes-Montblanc, a proponent of 197-a, said that these particular changes are less significant to him than the fact that Columbia had demonstrated flexibility. Asked if the modifications bring Columbia's plan closer to the 197-a, he said, "Not really, but it does show a certain flexibility that Columbia has not shown before, so I consider that a step forward. It's more aligned than it was before, but not quite there yet." "I personally never asked for such things, [but] I see it as a major thing that they are willing to change the plan," he said.

The new plan will shift a square of "privately owned, publicly accessible" open space farther west, closer to the Hudson River. The space will now occupy the block between Broadway and 12th Avenue between 130th and 131st Streets. The building standing between 12th Avenue and the space will also be split into two segments at ground level, creating a passageway from the sidewalk.

Kasdin said the goal was to draw pedestrians from 12th Avenue. "The open space where it had been previously placed and with a solid building to its west would not feel accessible to members of the community.

A fundamental goal of our expansion is to create a space that is perceived as accessible as well as being accessible in fact," he said.

Columbia will also add a plaza in front of the new School of the Arts building. This space is scheduled to open by the conclusion of phase 1 of the expansion, sooner than the 12th Avenue location, which will take about 25 years to complete. In addition, the new plan adds a pedestrian corridor from Prentis Hall on 125th Street to Riverside Park.

The University will also vary the heights of the buildings on its proposed campus, making some buildings taller and others shorter. "The introduction of varied heights to the buildings makes these plans more consistent with the New York skyline across the city. We want these buildings to be part of the urban fabric," Kasdin said. "If our efforts to have buildings of the same height had the effect of making people from the community feel less welcome, we wanted to try to address that problem."

Kasdin said the changes came in response to comments made by members of CB9 and the general public at hundreds of meetings held over the past several years. The changes deal only with the physical makeup of the campus, and do not address other discrepancies with community members and the 197-a plan such as whether light manufacturing will be allowed to continue in the area, or concerns about displacement that many residents consider more significant.

Columbia will present the changes to a public meeting of CB9 on July 31.