Two Columbia University Area Events
There were two simultaneous neighborhood events that I should have attended last night -- the debate at the West End Caf between some of our candidates for Manhattan Boro President (Bill Perkins, Scott Stringer, and others among a crowded field -- see below) and the CB#9 Meeting of the Task Force on Rezoning Manhattanville with a large turn out to meet with Ed Marshall from the City Planning Commission.
Having missed both of the above, I happened to catch the CUNY board meeting on Channel 75. As I was tuning in a bit late, Matt Goldstein, CUNY Chancellor, was reporting on a revised CUNY approach next year to bringing in much needed funds from public and private sources. A new appointment as President of the CUNY Graduate Center (William Kelly who is now within the system and apparently quite popular there) was announced. And board member Jeffrey S. Weisenfeld, former administrative assistant to Senator Jacob Javits and Governor George Pataki, presented an angry petition from 100+ CUNY faculty members chastising the PSC (Professional Staff Congress -- CUNY faculty union) for not condemning the recent British call for a boycott of some Israeli scholars for supporting Israel's policies in dealing with the Palestinians (subsequently withdrawn):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F11%2F17%2Fnisr17.xml
Susan O'Malley, Chair of the CUNY Faculty Senate, responded that the PSC's response opposing the boycott had been incorporated in the AAUP's (of which it is a member).
A word here on academic freedom is perhaps in order. Both Columbia and CUNY faculty have been targeted by pro-Israel groups for allegedly allowing intimidation of students by pro-Palestinian academics. Jeffrey's resolution presumably falls within this framework. Let me say from an independent stance that we have done a pretty good job at CUNY in balancing the conflicting interests of our Jewish and Muslim students impacted by the terrible Israeli/Palestinian tensions. Some years ago we founded at Brooklyn a Multicultural Action Committee (Steve London, our PSC Vice President was one of its founding members) which tries to keep the peace whenever ethic conflicts emerge. We work at pulling students and faculty back from mud slinging outbursts to debating the very real issues that underlie such conflicts -- racism, bigotry, competing claims to territories, whatever. One cannot escape the fact that particular interests are competing for the same turf, but one can try to keep the dialogue within sane and mutually respectful limits. With that entree, let me get on to a second hand report on the Manhattanville Rezoning Task Force meeting at CB#9.
I gather that the meeting was heavily attended and widely representative except for people and organizations from Morningside Heights apart from Geoffrey Wiener and others from Columbia and a board member or two. Broadway Democrats, where are you? Such included Tom DeMott and Tom Kappner from the CPC (COALITION TO PRESERVE COMMUNITY), Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat from Washington Heights who is also running for the Manhattan Boro Presidency, Jordi Reyes-Montblanc, Chr. of CB#9 and 16 or 17 additional board members, Anne Whitman, owner of a storage business in the area threatened by Columbia, Norman Siegel, former ex. dir. of the NYCLU, representing area businesses and residents, Lee Chong, Director of the Manhattan Borough President's Land Use, Housing and Development Unit, as well as Ed Marshall for the NYC Department of City Planning.
As I understand it the proposed schedule of events of the two plans for West Manhattanville, CB#9's 197-A and Columbia's was discussed in some detail. I gather per Ed Marshall of City Planning that before Columbia can achieve its goal, its ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure):
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/luproc/ulpro.html
must run through a series of gauntlets -- CB#9, the Boro President, the City Council, the Mayor -- before it can apply for its apparently desired blight/eminient domain designation for the area. This is quite an Odyssey. Ed Marshall also suggested that the CB#9 197-A would be granted equal consideration and would run on a parallel track. My own personal assessment is that the present situation does not parallel that in New London where the Supreme Court by a 5-4 margin favor the _city's_ plan as representing the public interest. Columbia has a long way to go to prove that its plan represents anything more than Columbia's interest only. Assemblyman Espaillat is no friend to Columbia and apparently reports that Columbia's failures outweighs its earlier promises in Washington Heights -- the promised jobs were not produced there, Spanish language facility by Columbia's treating staff, is still a problem for Latino/a patients there, etc.
We may be seeing a potential collision here between the proverbial irresistible force and immovable object -- but Bloomberg went to Johns Hopkins where he contributes extensively, not Columbia ;-).
Anyone have a report on the West End debate between borough president candidates? We personally favor Bill Perkins who listens and gets things done -- a characterization suggested by one of his friends. But the field is wide with many good candidates:
In Manhattan, Diversity Shapes Race for Borough President
By JONATHAN P. HICKS
The candidates running for Manhattan borough president have
realized that to gain any headway they must play to their
bases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/nyregion/metrocampaigns/28manhattan.html?th&emc=th
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort
to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
--
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AcademicFreedom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivacyRights
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.legendgames.net/blognews.asp
Having missed both of the above, I happened to catch the CUNY board meeting on Channel 75. As I was tuning in a bit late, Matt Goldstein, CUNY Chancellor, was reporting on a revised CUNY approach next year to bringing in much needed funds from public and private sources. A new appointment as President of the CUNY Graduate Center (William Kelly who is now within the system and apparently quite popular there) was announced. And board member Jeffrey S. Weisenfeld, former administrative assistant to Senator Jacob Javits and Governor George Pataki, presented an angry petition from 100+ CUNY faculty members chastising the PSC (Professional Staff Congress -- CUNY faculty union) for not condemning the recent British call for a boycott of some Israeli scholars for supporting Israel's policies in dealing with the Palestinians (subsequently withdrawn):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F11%2F17%2Fnisr17.xml
Susan O'Malley, Chair of the CUNY Faculty Senate, responded that the PSC's response opposing the boycott had been incorporated in the AAUP's (of which it is a member).
A word here on academic freedom is perhaps in order. Both Columbia and CUNY faculty have been targeted by pro-Israel groups for allegedly allowing intimidation of students by pro-Palestinian academics. Jeffrey's resolution presumably falls within this framework. Let me say from an independent stance that we have done a pretty good job at CUNY in balancing the conflicting interests of our Jewish and Muslim students impacted by the terrible Israeli/Palestinian tensions. Some years ago we founded at Brooklyn a Multicultural Action Committee (Steve London, our PSC Vice President was one of its founding members) which tries to keep the peace whenever ethic conflicts emerge. We work at pulling students and faculty back from mud slinging outbursts to debating the very real issues that underlie such conflicts -- racism, bigotry, competing claims to territories, whatever. One cannot escape the fact that particular interests are competing for the same turf, but one can try to keep the dialogue within sane and mutually respectful limits. With that entree, let me get on to a second hand report on the Manhattanville Rezoning Task Force meeting at CB#9.
I gather that the meeting was heavily attended and widely representative except for people and organizations from Morningside Heights apart from Geoffrey Wiener and others from Columbia and a board member or two. Broadway Democrats, where are you? Such included Tom DeMott and Tom Kappner from the CPC (COALITION TO PRESERVE COMMUNITY), Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat from Washington Heights who is also running for the Manhattan Boro Presidency, Jordi Reyes-Montblanc, Chr. of CB#9 and 16 or 17 additional board members, Anne Whitman, owner of a storage business in the area threatened by Columbia, Norman Siegel, former ex. dir. of the NYCLU, representing area businesses and residents, Lee Chong, Director of the Manhattan Borough President's Land Use, Housing and Development Unit, as well as Ed Marshall for the NYC Department of City Planning.
As I understand it the proposed schedule of events of the two plans for West Manhattanville, CB#9's 197-A and Columbia's was discussed in some detail. I gather per Ed Marshall of City Planning that before Columbia can achieve its goal, its ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure):
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/luproc/ulpro.html
must run through a series of gauntlets -- CB#9, the Boro President, the City Council, the Mayor -- before it can apply for its apparently desired blight/eminient domain designation for the area. This is quite an Odyssey. Ed Marshall also suggested that the CB#9 197-A would be granted equal consideration and would run on a parallel track. My own personal assessment is that the present situation does not parallel that in New London where the Supreme Court by a 5-4 margin favor the _city's_ plan as representing the public interest. Columbia has a long way to go to prove that its plan represents anything more than Columbia's interest only. Assemblyman Espaillat is no friend to Columbia and apparently reports that Columbia's failures outweighs its earlier promises in Washington Heights -- the promised jobs were not produced there, Spanish language facility by Columbia's treating staff, is still a problem for Latino/a patients there, etc.
We may be seeing a potential collision here between the proverbial irresistible force and immovable object -- but Bloomberg went to Johns Hopkins where he contributes extensively, not Columbia ;-).
Anyone have a report on the West End debate between borough president candidates? We personally favor Bill Perkins who listens and gets things done -- a characterization suggested by one of his friends. But the field is wide with many good candidates:
In Manhattan, Diversity Shapes Race for Borough President
By JONATHAN P. HICKS
The candidates running for Manhattan borough president have
realized that to gain any headway they must play to their
bases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/nyregion/metrocampaigns/28manhattan.html?th&emc=th
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort
to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
--
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AcademicFreedom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivacyRights
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.legendgames.net/blognews.asp
posted by Ed Kent at 9:12 AM
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