NY Top Court OKs Columbia’s West Harlem Expansion
For Nick Sprayregen, the owner of a set of West Harlem warehouses in the footprint of a 17-acre expansion planned by Columbia University, there was a brief glimmer of hope earlier this year. The landlord, to the surprise of most everyone watching, won a state appellate court case that challenged the state’s use of eminent domain to take his property for Columbia’s campus, with a judge writing a blistering opinion that excoriated the state agency leading the process. Contrary to most precedents, it seemed possible that Mr. Sprayregen might actually stave off a land-taking and defeat the university.
Today, the narrative returned to its expected track.
New York’s top court Thursday morning issued a decision that overturned the lower court’s decision, ruling that eminent domain could indeed proceed.
Read the rest at http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/court-appeals-oks-columbias-expansion-manhattanville