Columbia’s plan OK’d: High Court reversed App. Div.

Court of Appeals reversed First Department’s strongly worded opinion. In 2001, Columbia University contacted the City’s Economic Development Corporation in an effort to redevelop West Harlem as part of a campus expansion. Not long after, EDC issued a West Harlem Master Plan that stated that West Harlem could be redeveloped through rezoning. EDC, after it issued the master plan, hired a private firm to examine the neighborhood conditions of West Harlem. The study concluded that … <Read More>


Columbia University’s science building approved

Fourteen-story science facility to be constructed at Broadway and West 120th. Columbia University sought a variance from BSA for a 14-story, 229-foot high, 163,052-square-foot science facility at 3030 Broadway and West 120th Street. The proposed science facility exceeded lot coverage, height and setback requirements.

At BSA, Columbia argued that its educational needs required a building with larger floor plates. In support, it submitted a consultant’s report that concluded that the university needed 28 new science … <Read More>