The conflict over Coumbia University's mammoth 17-acre campus expansion north of 125th Street continues to ripen. There was a heavily attended meeting this weekend about the upcoming negotiations over the Community Benefits Agreement for the Manhattanville expansion. The Columbia Spectator reports that the meeting went on for six hours and that some in attendance urged that the Community Benefits Agreement not be "a payoff in exchange for which the University is allowed to proceed with its expansion however it wants." For the anti-expansion plan take check out stopcolumbia.org, which is an outgrowth of the Coalition to Preserve Community. Their site describes the expansion as a plan to "bulldoze 18 acres of West Harlem, displacing families and eliminating businesses and jobs, to expand and develop a hazardous biotech research center."
· Development Group Meets Community [Columbia Spectator]
· Stop Columbia Website [stopcolumbia.org]
· Movement in Manhattanville: CU Tweaks Campus Plans [Curbed]
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