With the City Council set to vote on Columbia’s plans for a new Baker Athletics Complex on April 6, local politicians say they’re still working to secure more community benefits—following two Council members’ public fight over how the project has been handled.
In the last week, City Council members Robert Jackson and Ydanis Rodriguez held separate public meetings about the plans, where residents repeated their claims that there hasn’t been enough say for the residents of Inwood who live around Baker Field at 218th Street.
If Columbia’s request for a partial waiver of waterfront zoning laws is passed by the City Council—which could be the last step in a lengthy city approval process—the University will be allowed to start construction on its proposed 48,000-square-foot Campbell Sports Center.
But it remains unclear whether the politicians’ competing attempts to marshal community concern into tangible benefits will make an impact in the short time before what could be the final vote.
DUELING POLITICIANS
Following a City Council zoning committee hearing last week during which Jackson accused Rodriguez of making racist comments and hindering his efforts to work together on Baker Field, the two Council members sponsored separate public meetings about the Baker Field plans, on March 18 and 20, respectively. Other elected officials, including State Senator Adriano Espaillat and Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, and Columbia officials attended both meetings.
Rodriguez says he and Espaillat were able to delay a vote that Columbia officials had informed him would take place on March 15, which gave residents another chance to raise concerns.
But Susan Russell, chief of staff for Jackson’s office, said no vote had been scheduled for then, and that the Council’s vote has always been planned for April 6.
The scuffle over the date of the vote was the first of a number of disagreements that have placed the two Council members at odds, even though they say they are fighting for the same thing: more benefits for Inwood residents in exchange for granting Columbia the zoning waiver it needs.
Russell said that it has always been policy for the Council member whose district is involved to take the lead on a project, and since it is a City Council vote, it makes most sense for Council members, not state officials, to be most involved.
Rodriguez, who has been working closely with Espaillat, said there has not been sufficient time to consider community concerns—or his own, even though his Council district is adjacent to Jackson’s district, which includes Baker Field.
“I have never been part of the conversation prior to the past couple of days,” he said on Sunday.
According to Russell, though, there has been nothing to stop Rodriguez and Espaillat from doing just that by getting involved earlier in the process had they wanted to.
“The thing he hasn’t done is call Jackson up and said, ‘Let’s talk about this,’” Russell said of Rodriguez.
Russell added that any local official could have called public meetings earlier in the process, noting that Espaillat attended one of Columbia’s first community meetings in 2009 as an Assembly member whose district included Baker Field.
“I don’t know what the fingerpointing is about,” she said. “Anybody could have had a community meeting; they could have done what they did Sunday at any time if they thought that was necessary.”
The two Council members are also at odds about the community benefits agreement, which they both say they’re both pushing for.
Jackson has been working on such an agreement for weeks, Russell said. Jackson’s office met with residents Tuesday afternoon to discuss a list of benefits drafted by Inwood advocates Monday, and Joe Ienuso, Columbia’s vice president of Facilities, said at Sunday’s meeting that he is working with Jackson’s office on an agreement.
Rodriguez said he was also working to secure a written community benefits agreement, adding that he planned on forming a committee of residents, Community Board 12 members, and local elected officials to oversee Baker Field developments.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS
If the turnout for this past weekend’s public meetings is any indication—both were attended by hundreds of residents—Columbia has not had enough conversation with concerned residents, Khan said.
“If there was, you wouldn’t have seen 200 people show up on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and sit in a gym for four hours,” he said.
Victoria Benitez, public affairs officer at Columbia, said that the University’s effort to meet with neighborhood residents has included 19 community meetings and tours with local politicians and Community Board 12 since the project’s start in 2009.
“Getting people to these community board meetings is on the community board, not on us,” she said.
Rodriguez’s goal is to ensure that a waiver of zoning regulations, which would allow the University to devote only 1.5 percent of its property to public waterfront access, instead of the required 15 percent, does not set a precedent for future projects. That is in reaction to concerns, voiced at Sunday’s meeting, that Columbia would technically be able to construct a five-story building in place of the Chrystie Field House (another building on Columbia’s property that includes locker rooms) without going through a similar process.
“I want to make sure that in order to undertake any future construction, they will go back to the city,” Rodriguez said of Columbia.
Longtime critics of the construction plans and Columbia’s interaction with Inwood residents still insist there is more to be done.
“Certainly I’m more optimistic than I was three weeks ago,” said David Brodherson, a member of Advocates for Inwood, noting that he was encouraged by the high attendance at Sunday’s public meeting but not sure Columbia will hold up its end of the deal.
Resident Robin Osler said that considering Columbia’s history, she, too, is worried.
“It gets down to the bottom line of trusting the institution and I’m not sure about that,” Osler said, noting that Columbia hasn’t complied with previous community agreements. “It’s like ‘OK, I hear you, but I want to know what you’re really going to give me.’”
TWO WEEKS AHEAD
At Sunday’s meeting, Ienuso listed the issues raised by locals that Columbia has already begun to address, including the disruptively bright stadium lights. Columbia has also appointed a community liaison, improved the 218th street landscape with new fencing and trees, and provided free football game tickets to residents.
Benitez said Columbia plans to continue its commitment to the neighborhood, noting that Columbia will be enhancing city-owned property and providing public access to new amenities through its construction of a public waterfront area known as Boathouse Marsh.
As for the next two weeks, Russell confirmed that Jackson has set up two meetings with Columbia officials before the City Council vote.
Khan said Espaillat is also in conversation with Columbia and that the State Senator will continue to work toward getting residents’ voices heard before the Council vote.
“We want to make sure that our constituents get the best deal possible, and part of that is facilitating the discussion and helping constituents have their opinions counted,” Khan said. “We believe the focus has to be on residents in Inwood and Washington Heights, and not the inside political baseball that has no real impact on our constituents.”
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