Columbia plans to expand despite loss

Call it growing pains: Columbia University's plans for expansion have hit a major roadblock after a New York appeals court ruled Thursday that the state could not use eminent domain on behalf of the university.

After gaining control of 61 buildings in the Manhattanville neighborhood north of its Morningside Heights campus, Columbia sought the state's aid in using eminent domain to seize additional land for a new 17-acre campus. In order to do so, the state had to prove that the land to be seized was "blighted." But in a 3-2 ruling, the appellate court argued that the state could not use eminent domain because the expansion is not a civil project and called claims that the neighborhood is blighted "idiocy."

Nicholas Sprayregen, owner of Tuck-It-Away Storage, was targeted by the eminent domain plans after he refused to sell four of his warehouses to Columbia.

"It certainly helps the cause of those fighting eminent-domain abuse," Sprayregen said. "I'm not against the Columbia expansion plan per se, but I'm against the way they used the state to go about it."

Norman Siegel, an attorney representing the holdout owners, said: "I think it's a big win for private property owners and community activists."

He added: "It's a roadmap for how people can fight back against the abuse of eminent domain."

The ruling reverses a recent legal trend of courts supporting broader use of eminent domain.

"The courts have increased the range of rationales for eminent domain over the years to a degree that I find indefensible," said Harvey Molotch, a professor in NYU's Department of Social and Cultural Analysis.

The decision also reignites the overarching debate between neighborhood activists and large universities, which may have implications for a space-starved NYU as it embarks on its controversial 2031 expansion plan.

"We could have built, by right, much more space," NYU President John Sexton said of recent university construction.

Sexton explained that NYU engages in a cooperative dialogue as part "of a process of trying to be more embracing of the community in which we live because its vitality is important to us."

Molotch said Columbia and NYU maintain different approaches for growth, in that the former relies on eminent domain to assemble large connected areas and achieve greater control.

"NYU, in contrast, expands bit by bit and, as far as I know, they do not envision any grand assemblages," he said.

But Columbia remains adamant that the decision does not interfere with its long-term $6.3 billion plan for a satellite campus.

"Columbia is not a party in this litigation," said Victoria Benítez, senior public affairs officer at Columbia. Benítez said "site demolition and other pre-construction work has already begun and can continue" on the land that Columbia has purchased in Manhattanville.

The Empire State Development Corporation, the state agency that attempted to use eminent domain, has stated it plans to appeal.

"ESDC believes the decision of the Appellate Division, First Department in the matter of the Columbia University Manhattanville Campus to be wrong and inconsistent with established law," spokesman Warner Johnston said in a statement. "ESDC intends to appeal this decision."

But Sprayregen said he is not concerned about the appeal.

"We're very happy that we won first round," he said. "We're cautiously optimistic that the court will find the same abuse again."