Columbia High-Rise Might Rise Too High, Critics Worry
01/23/00 by Nina Seigal
At first, the idea of building 70 or 80 apartments on Broadway between 109th and 110th Streets to be used by faculty members of Columbia University seemed simple enough.
The housing was needed, said Emily Lloyd, executive vice president for administration at Columbia, because punishing rents and the difficulty of finding apartments in the neighborhood made it hard to recruit professors. "It's a deal-breaker for a lot of families," Ms. Lloyd said.
The university hopes to break ground next year and complete construction 18 months later. But when Columbia asked the architecture firm of Beyer Blinder Belle to prepare sketches and informed community boards that such a plan was being considered, the idea aroused so much anger among residents that some observers predicted the issue could prove fiercely contentious.
"People are going to be lining up on this battle," said Laura Friedman, a member of the Morningside Heights Historic District Council. "It is going to be met with great, great resistance." At the heart of potential conflict is Columbia's intention to ask the city's zoning board to alter the height limits along the east side of the block, currently zoned to allow 12-story buildings, to accommodate a 15- to 20-story structure.
"It's like the first line in the sand," said Daniel O'Donnell, chairman of the housing and land use committee of Community Board 9 in Morningside Heights. "Once an owner can go up to 20 stories on one corner, how can you say to the people who own the store on the corner or the Banco Popular site on 111th Street they can't go up to 20 stories? We'd have an entire neighborhood that can go up to 22 to 25 stories."
Others are concerned that the faculty housing would permanently displace a D'Agostino and other stores on the site. "Some of the beloved stores in this neighborhood will be closed during this construction, and that's going to have an impact," said Paula Diamond Romàn, a local Democratic district leader. "They're talking about taking our only supermarket away from us."
Nicholas J. D'Agostino Jr., chairman and chief executive of D'Agostino, said he hoped to return to the site after construction was completed. Ms. Lloyd said the university intended to accommodate D'Agostino in a new building. But some residents want stronger assurances.
"They're on a land grab and they keep taking more and more space," Mr. O'Donnell said. "A year from now they draw up the plans and then lo and behold there's no room for a supermarket there."
