Columbia University Eminent Domain In Harlem Condemned By Libertarian Alumni
Columbia University president Lee Bollinger’s plan to use eminent domain to obtain land for a new campus in the Manhattanville section faces new opposition from the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY www.ny.lp.org) led by Columbia College (CC) alumni. Former State Chair Richard Cooper (CC’79), Christopher Garvey (CC ’73) and Mark Axinn (CC’78) denounce the University’s resort to the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to condemn property-owners who will not sell voluntarily in the West Harlem Manhattanville expansion zone, from West 125th to 133rd Streets between Broadway and 12th Avenue. The university might acquire as much as 35 acres for a biotech campus. The ESDC designated the area as "blighted."
Eminent domain is a legalized assault on tenants, taxpayers and property-owners Moses said to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." The Libertarian Party says to our modern pharaohs, the politicians and bureaucrats, "Let our people stay." Bollinger cites our beloved Columbia’s educational mission and the infamous Kelo decision. Is it Columbia’s mission to teach that legalized theft is just and constitutional? Is it to teach that the end justifies the means?
Mark Axinn, a Manhattan real estate attorney and Manhattan LP treasurer, contends "I am particularly appalled that Columbia University, which already has significant real estate and financial resources far in excess of others is desirous of relying on the thuggery of government to force other real estate owners to relinquish their property rather than simply purchasing any land it desires on the open market. Surely an institution with the power and wealth of Columbia could, if it desired, simply buy contiguous property. By seeking to usurp others’ legitimate property rights by eminent domain, a University of which I should be proud lowers itself to the level of the street bully simply taking what it wants from those weaker individuals who might also be on the schoolyard."
Christopher Garvey, a Long Island patent attorney and former LPNY candidate for Governor (’98) and Attorney-General (’06), reflects his interest in arts with his critique. "On The Brian Lehrer Show of Thursday, March 08, 2007 Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, stated his case for its expansion into the Manhattanville section of West Harlem. He described the activities of his private university as "Public Purposes", which justified having the government invoke its powers of eminent domain, to steal property from existing owners, to give to the University. Thus, artists paying rent in for studios in private buildings would be forcibly displaced to provide studio space for artists placed there by Columbia. How arrogant! Declaring one’s "purposes" to be "public" is so much easier and cheaper than buying property fairly, from willing sellers on the free market. But how is one artist’s studio a more "public" purpose than another artist’s studio? And how does a CVS drug store become a more "public" purpose than a Walgreen’s drugstore? Because people like Lee Bollinger can say so. And such people can get government to do their bidding, by eminent domain. And elite academic Lee Bollinger’s very important opinion is so-o-o much more valuable to the so-called "public" than yours is, even if you think you are a member of the "public".
About the author: Richard Cooper is an international trade professional with a manufacturing firm. He is active in the Libertarian Party. He blogs at www.mythsmasher.blogspot.com.
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