The state's Court of Appeals might feel kindly toward Stuy Town's tenants, but apparently the same cannot be said for the small business owners of Manhattanville: the AP reports the court has upheld the state's use of eminent domain to seize land for Columbia University's planned expansion into the area. And the world is back on its axis! Back in December, a state appellate court surprisingly ruled the land seizure unconstitutional with the argument that, while the land in question may be blighted, Columbia itself was responsible.
The land that was being batted around in court?after a suit by Manhattanville landowner Nick Sprayregen and another family that owns a gas station?actually makes up only about 9 percent of the planned 17-acre expansion, but the university really wanted this land in particular to create an underground tunnel network between university buildings. (Wouldn't want to look at all that blight, eh?) Looks like the university's confidence was not misplaced.
· Court Upholds Columbia Campus Expansion Plan [AP]
· State's Land Seizure for Columbia Expansion Ruled Unconstitutional! [Curbed]
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