Politicians call for more benefits before Baker Field vote

Two weeks before the City Council is scheduled to vote on Columbia’s construction plans for its Baker Athletics Complex, Inwood residents gathered at two public meetings to address what locals called a lack of transparency from the University.

The University’s plans for its athletic facilities at 218th Street include the 48,000-square-foot Campbell Sports Center and a public waterfront park known as Boathouse Marsh. But the meetings showed that north Manhattan’s public officials have diverging ideas about the pace of the approval process, and how much more the University needs to do to meet the neighborhood’s needs.

Sunday’s meeting, sponsored by State Senator Adriano Espaillat and City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez­­, followed a similar meeting Friday evening sponsored by City Council member Robert Jackson. Espaillat said the public meetings, which included Columbia officials, were necessary in light of City Council’s vote on April 6, which could give Columbia the approval it needs to start construction on the project.

“We will not support any fast track effort—you will have a say,” Espaillat said to at least 200 people who packed into an Inwood school auditorium Sunday afternoon.

But residents and local officials don’t have a lot of time, Jackson’s Chief of Staff Susan Russell said on Saturday.

“We’re on a hard and firm clock,” she said, explaining that April 6 is the latest date by which the City Council can legally vote on the issue. “They say ‘we ought to slow this down,’ but there’s no way to do it, they know there’s no way to do that.”

The City Council will vote on whether Columbia will be allowed to partially bypass waterfront zoning laws that require it to devote 15 percent of its land to public waterfront access—something the University has maintained it cannot do because of the topography of the land. That vote is one of the last stages in a process that has spanned months and involved reviews by Community Board 12 and the city’s Department of City Planning. The University also says it has been involved with at least 19 community meetings about the project.

Though the City Council vote deals with the waiver, residents and local politicians say Columbia’s community involvement has become just as big a concern as the zoning details, with much of the discussion centering around benefits that residents want from Columbia in light of its request to provide only 10 percent of what current zoning laws require.

Espaillat and Rodriguez said they’ll try their best to secure a community benefits agreement before the Council vote.

“We would like to see a meeting with Columbia with all elected officials involved,” said Rodriguez, who said he plans to form a committee of residents and elected officials to oversee the Baker Field project’s development.

“It’s about time,” local resident David Brodherson, a member of the community group Advocates for Inwood, said of Sunday’s meeting. “I think our local politicians now understand the gravity, the anger, the disappointment of residents in Columbia’s plan.”

Resident Roger Myers, who founded the New York Outrigger canoe club, agreed that Columbia has yet to provide sufficient benefits for locals who use the area around Baker Field. Columbia plans to deed its dock to the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, but Myers said that gesture is meaningless without facilities like parking lots and a boathouse—which he feels the community deserves since the dock is technically already on city land.

“Docks in New York City are good for seagulls and ducks unless you plan around it,” he said. “And because Columbia has enjoyed access for 90 years without compensating the public and without giving money to the city, it’s reasonable and fair that the Boathouse Marsh plan address what it takes for the community to get on the water.”

Still, the City Council cannot legally require Columbia to provide certain amenities that residents are asking for, such as dock infrastructure, Russell said.

“If we could talk Columbia into spending additional money to do that, that’d be great,” she said, adding that Councilmember Jackson’s office is working on increasing public access to facilities.

“Those are the kinds of things we’re going to figure out, so we’re going to take the next two-and-a-half weeks and figure it out in a way that hopefully makes most people feel at least satisfied.”

Jackson said Sunday afternoon that he’s glad the second meeting occurred, since it gave more residents a chance to voice their concerns and hear from Columbia.

“We’ve heard Senator Espaillat say and Councilmember Jackson say this is not the end of the conversation, this is very much the beginning of the conversation, and we agree with that,” Columbia's Executive Vice President for Facilities Joe Ienuso said, noting that Columbia has appointed a community liaison.

But with the vote approaching, residents voiced their apprehension that there would not be time to amend the plans.

“If the community wants to make a convincing case of where it falls short, it’s difficult to address all the facts given the amount of time and the forum,” Myers said. “It’s coming too late.”

chelsea.lo@columbiaspectator.com