"The period of the unfolding of this new campus in Manhattanville should be a time in which we demonstrate that courage and confidence in ourselves to re-evaluate what we take to be important and the roles we should assume in the world" (President Bollinger on Manhattanville Expansion). Bollinger's quote portrays his view of both the new expanion's and Columbia's overall role in the world (transparent, tech-oriented, “clean,” postindustrial). The physical design of the building is intended to convey a sense of both transparency as well as a “look” into a tech-oriented future. This local building is expected to convey a message of the global, since its role is to nestle the knowledge economy within its walls.The Empire State Development Corporation sees New York is the “state of the future,” and worked in tandem with Columbia University to attain the the expanse of space in Manhattanville where residents and companies once resided. This ties back to the idea that the knowledge economy is the “future,” and that only “top talent” is welcome there. The future is represented by infrastructure, “clean energy,” “innovation,” and “talent” that can contribute ideas. “These are people who, in saying ‘I don’t see color,’ treat the neighborhood like a blank slate. They have no idea how insulting they are being, denying us our heritage and our stake in Harlem’s future. And, far from government intervention to keep us in our homes, houses of worship and schools, to protect buildings emblematic of black history, we see policies like destructive zoning, with false ‘trickle down’ affordability, changes that incentivize yet more gentrification, sure to transfigure our Harlem forever.” (Michael Henry Adams, writer/lecturer/historian/tour guide/activist in Harlem, 2016)The culture of “progress” enables structural neglect to be deemed as acceptable in certain situations among certain populations over others. Not only Columbia University, but the NYC as a whole buys into the culture of “progress” and capital: millionaires can purchase homes they don’t intend to live in for the purposes of investment; meanwhile costs of living continue to skyrocket for residents in affordable housing in the vicinity of such “residencies.” There is a cultural disposition towards the enhancement of capital and private interests, at the expense of people more generally who are rendered more vulnerable to displacement due to gentrifying practices. “Lack of funding” and neglecting to fulfill the backlog of repairs leads NYCHA to exposing residents of their housing to various environmental and health hazards. In return, residents seek to protect themselves from the risks and harms of late industrialism. The President of the Resident’s Association pushes residents to submit their work orders in bulk so as to draw more attention to them, as well as to reach out to local politicians to push for their interests/needs to be served. The radio station may serve as another powerful tool for protecting their residence.President Carmen Quinones of the Douglass Houses Resident’s Association (RA): “Sometimes, I like to get radical, especially when I see injustice. I used to be a nurse, until I saw what my patients were going through. I started to speak up, which people at the office didn’t like…now we present you with the People’s Plan. The city needs to find a way to get money without privatization. We live in substandard living conditions. Privatization schemes only serve to make the 1% richer. We are calling for a stop to privatization of developments. Instead, invest $1.7 billion annually from the city’s capital budgets. We don’t want you taking our playgrounds. It’s already bad enough that there are no programs for the kids…We are asking you all to join this movement. If you consider yourself a leader, then join.”President of the Resident's Association at Grant Houses, Carlton Davis: “You live in a complex, a high rise, not the projects; you need to get that term out of your heads. We have been conditioned to think like that. It’s not about the building, it’s about the people. We are getting things done, it’s mental now…They [NYCHA] don’t want to hear me….This voice is for you all. They might think it comes off as aggressive. You might not have a voice in front of NYCHA, but I will be that voice.” Davis has a vision for the future of Grant Houses. He has lived in the Houses for a total of 43 years and currently lives with his mother, wife, daughter, and son. He left for a time to work as an assistant to the head of recruitment manager with the Navy, as well as a film producer, boxer and rapper, and then returned to the Houses to pursue the mission of restoring them to their former glory of the 1960s to 1970s.Principal Reggie Higgins of the Ralph Bunche School asserted that he wanted people at Grant Houses to reinvest in public schools, not to give up on them and switch to sending their children to the increasingly popular charter schools. He affirmed that public schools could succeed, but that it would take the effort of the entire community to make the school a place where children want to learn and advance themselves. He argued that children needed to be made aware of the wide array of possible job opportunities available aside from the “traditional” college education, such as Urban Gardening or other forms of vocational training. He concluded that it was at the community level where differences could be implemented. Grant Houses resident (a grade school teacher I spoke with): He argued that there were many people in New York City and across the country who wanted a better life, but were without the resources conducive to achieving it, and that the income inequality gap was only widening. In the meantime, he argued that Manhattan was transforming into one large campus, consisting of two Universities: Columbia University and New York University and that the cityscape was becoming building towers and high rises, often constructed without the consent of residents yet impacting them all the same both physically and socially. Associate Vice President of the Office of Government and Community Affairs for Columbia University, Victoria Mason-Ailey: She affirmed that the walls of the main campus have often been seen as barriers, that it was not the original intention but is the outsider perception. However, the new Manhattanville campus is to have a more open plan, with no walls or gates and a connection to the network of streets. She argued that the name of the University is “Columbia University in the City of New York,” meaning that they focus on the interface with the community and on transparency. She indicated that many of the Manhattanville Expansion buildings were not yet designated for a particular function or funded by a donor as of yet. While the Community Benefits Agreement is an exemplification of working with the community in a partnership, she argued that Columbia cannot solve every one of their problems. Resident of Manhattanville Houses and activist: In addition, he argued that if Columbia University is a good community citizen, then there is a moral obligation to engage in more outreach in the housing developments, identifying the abilities and capacity of residents, and being completely transparent about their motivations. He posed the following question: “How can you have a community bordered three sides by academic institutions, and have terrible schools?” He affirmed that while 85 percent of students in the neighborhood pass coursework, only 5-6 percent passed standardized tests. He argued that every school in the neighborhood should be great, as great as the capabilities of teachers residing there.Community Voices Heard (CVH): a nonprofit run primarily by low-income women of color, and as the vision statement asserts, they “believe in a society where ‘experts’ do not have all the answers but rather a society in which the people most directly affected are the ones making the decisions.”Some CVH chants: Affordable for who? Not for me, not for you! East Harlem deserves better! True, true, true! La renta sube, sube! El Barrio sufre, sufre!Fight, fight, fight! Housing is a human right!Arriba! Abajo! Queremos renta bajo!Poverty and starvation, Will not be stopped by corporations, That’s bullshit, get off it, The enemy is profit!Low income to you! Is not low-income to me! Get real affordable housing, Or you won’t succeed!Columbia University Vice President for Public Safety, James F. McShane released the following message to the Columbia community the day following the NYPD raids in 2014: "Yesterday the NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office arrested and indicted over 100 suspected gang members in West Harlem in one of the largest gang arrests in New York City history. These indictments make our city and community safer and come as a result of a long-term collaboration between local law enforcement agencies. Following these arrests, we are actively supporting an enhanced police presence in West Harlem and increasing our public safety personnel and patrols in and around Columbia buildings in Manhattanville. We will continue to do everything possible to keep making our campus community even safer."Deborah Secular poignantly argued in a Columbia Spectator op-ed in November 2016 regarding the opening ceremony for the Manhattanville Campus, “Columbia cannot both welcome the community and criminalize it at the same time.” She affirmed that the manner in which the Expansion is spoken about matters, and that Columbia University students and faculty must acknowledge what they have gained at the community’s expense (Secular 2016).
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