Columbia: Onward, Upward
Posted on November 27th, 2007 in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »
The New York City Planning Commission has approved Columbia’s plan for a 17-acre expansion into west Harlem by a vote of 10-1, with one abstention.
As I stood on the open-air subway platform at 125th street this morning, looking north and west over the dreary parking garages, storage facilities, paint shops, and so on that make up the area in question, I thought, Good.
There will, of course, be opposition.
âWeâll stand in front of those bulldozers,â said Tom DeMott, a leader of the opposition Coalition to Preserve Community. âThis battle is not over by a long shot.â
Mr. DeMott would be better served by working with Columbia to make this plan as conducive to the long-term economic growth of Harlem as possible than by standing in front of the bulldozers. But that would not attract him nearly as much attention….
11 Responses
11/27/2007 11:00 pm
We always hear how you dislike your neighborhood, Richard. Why do you live there if you dislike it so intensely? Or if that is not the case, what do you like about it?
11/28/2007 12:36 am
I’ll answer that sincerely, though I suspect the questioner is really someone who opposes the Columbia expansion. I very much like the area where I live. But I also am a believer in change and progress, which I think Columbia’s expansion represents, and growth, and urban renewal, and similar good things. And I have been underwhelmed by the protestations of the opponents of the expansion, who talk about massive evictions (which won’t happen), mysterious viruses emanating from Columbia labs, racial injustices, and other chimera. Really what they seem to be saying is, we’re against change, and/or, pay up. They are mau-mauing the flak-catcher, and I do not believe that they represent a majority opinion. Plus, they are playing the race card, and that is always tragic.
What I do I like about my area of upper Manhattan? It’s diverse, it’s energetic, it is (south of 125th Street) quite lovely, it’s unpretentious, it’s economically mixed, and so on. I love the energy of recent immigrants on the blocks near meâthe stores being started by Asians, Latinos, Arabs, and so on. (Though sadly, not by African-Americans; don’t ask me why, I’m not the right person to explain that.)
That said, I am a believer in universities, and I think Columbia’s plan will have a huge, positive impact on the area between 125th and 137th Streets, which is a bit of a wasteland right now. Come see for yourself if you don’t believe me…..
11/28/2007 12:52 am
This is anon 10:00. I’m not against the expansion. Truly was just curious since your frustration has been apparent. Thanks for your answer.
11/28/2007 1:12 am
As one who was born in a hospital on 123rd. Street between Morningside Avenue and Manhattan Avenue (way, way back in the dark ages), I find it a shanda that someone would want to turn over my birthplace to “The University.” What is going on here? Why can’t we keep the dreary parking garages, storage facilities, and paint shops, that have been in the area forever? Why would the area that has been stagnant for sixty plus years, not remain stagnant for another sixty plus? Surely, stare decisis is applicable in this situation, is it not?
11/28/2007 1:25 am
I want to make two small points. I also love this area and am somewhat more concerned than you about the potential effects of Columbia’s expansion, though that has no particular bearing on the two points below.
1) Did you really call “racial injustices” chimerical? I was going to let it go, but then you said “playing the race card” is “always tragic.” Well, you know, racism is always tragic; sometimes “playing the race card” is an appropriate response to racist actions. It’s certainly debatable whether Columbia’s actions are racist (I tend to think it’s not a useful term in this case myself), but so long as some actions are racist, people will be calling those actions racist and thereby “playing the race card.” Again, I submit that what’s tragic here is the racism, not the naming it as such.
2) I really take exception to the insinuation about African-Americans and store ownership. Here’s a clue: it’s not because they’re lazy; it’s because native African-Americans have little to no access to capital. Being descended from slaves and subjected until very recently to a Jim Crow system, most African-Americans have not had anything like the possibility of building up family wealth over generations. Moreover, the history of banks having racist loan policies is extremely long and well-detailed and yes, it persists, too. In many cases, immigrants have better access to capital than African-Americans because they can get loans from other members of their immigrant group (either in their home country or from those already settled here) or they can pool family assets to start these local businesses.
For more on race and wealth, I’d recommend United for a Fair Economy’s excellent Racial Wealth Divide Project.
11/28/2007 7:24 am
I want to hasten to add that there was no “insinuation” about African-Americans and entenpreneurship, just a genuine, “this phenomenon is visible, but I can’t explain it.” Your explanation sounds plausible to me, but I’d like a sociologist/economist/journalist who’s looked into it to share thoughts on why.
That said, I just don’t see a racial injustice being perpetrated in West Harlem, because I don’t see any injustice being perpetrated. As I’ve written before, I think there are other sections of Harlem where race and real estate is much more of an issue. (Sections where, for example, more than a handful of people live.)
And I’m slightly confused: You say that you don’t see “racism” as a useful term here, whatever that means, but you say that as long as some actions are racist, people will be calling them so.
I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about there.
11/28/2007 7:26 am
Sam,
Does that hospital still exist? Don’t think so….
Richard
11/28/2007 9:23 am
Richard,
Sydenham Hospital was, unfortunately, closed in 1980.
11/29/2007 12:13 am
The assertion that the lack of African American entrepreneurship is primarily due to a lack of capital is laughable.
11/29/2007 11:09 am
11:13 - why do I get the feeling that you’re not the sociologist/economist/journalist that Richard was looking for?
11/29/2007 12:10 pm
regarding anon 11:13pm:
Is that you, Prof. Mansfield?