So yesterday the Empire State Development Corp. voted to approve Columbia's $6.28 billion expansion expansion into Manhattanville.

In doing so, the state designated the area as blighted, which is necessary in order to invoke eminent domain.

The decision came as a result of a blight study by AKRF Inc., which found that Manhattanville consisted of "aging, poorly maintained and functionally obsolete industrial buildings with little indication of recent reinvestment to revive their generally deteriorated condition."

The New York Times is reporting this morning that Anne Whitman, who up until very recently was one of three Manhattanville landowners who refused to sell to Columbia, has decided to throw in the proverbial towel and has agreed to turn over her land to Columbia. In exchange for selling the property currently home to her moving storage company (now located on 129th/130th on B'Way), Whitman will receive a stretch of property in Washington Heights, which Bwog hears is quite lovely.

A few years ago, Whitman had the following to say when CU offered her $4 million: "'No way Columbia is going to steal this property right out from underneath me. Remember that man who stood in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square? That's me.'"

Which, of course, didn't turn out to be quite true -- probably-unintended anti-Communist implications non-withstanding.

Nonetheless, that leaves just Nick Sprayregen and a conspicuously unnamed family as the only two landowners resisting the charms (re: money) of PrezBo.

Bwog's back from our Memorial Day sojourn, and we hope you had as lovely a weekend as we did. Here now, the Spring 2008 issue of AdHoc, distilled for your reading pleasure.

The Tibet Question, Answer

The CSER Beginnings, Future

The Manhattanville Question, Answer, Beginnings, and Future

Patrick Cockburn's Muqtada Read, Reviewed

Birth Control Control

It's All in the Game

The New York Observer just released their list of this year's 100 Most Powerful People in Real Estate. Rounding off the upper echelon of the city's developers, scions, and politicians is none other than PrezBo. Says the Observer: "In a town where real estate is rarely measured in acres, Lee Bollinger is leading Columbia toward a 17-acre expansion, adding 6.8 million square feet to the campus. With the help of eminent domain, or at least the threat, he will be responsible for the wholesale transformation of West Harlem."

PrezBo narrowly beat the guy responsible for NYU's 6 million sq. feet of Greenwich Village expansion as well as New York's new governor, David Paterson.

In an email sent to the entire Columbia community this afternoon President Bollinger officially announced the appointment of interim dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, John Coatsworth, as the new permanent head of SIPA. PrezBo welcomed Professor Coatsworth to his new role by listing his myriad academic accomplishments and suggesting how they will be put to use in SIPA's transition to Manhattanville in the coming years. Below is an excerpt from President Bollinger's email:

"I am very pleased to announce the appointment of John Coatsworth as the new Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs. John has done an outstanding job as acting Dean of SIPA this past year, and it will be a pleasure to continue working with him in this permanent role.

This will be a critical period in the history of SIPA, especially as the School prepares to move into its own building in Manhattanville. In the short period of time in which John has been leading the School, he has been able to galvanize the SIPA community to begin preparing for its future. This will be absolutely critical in determining the course of SIPA over the next several years, which will in turn be extremely important in shaping the character of the University, particularly on the matter of our collective engagement with a wide range of public policy issues and globalization. I think we are very fortunate at this moment to have a dean with John's abilities.

Once again, Columbia monolith vs. Manhattanville individuals: this time, in photos

Eye E-I-C overtaken by hostile mononucleosis culture

Hungry Jewish students float in an ocean of improperly slaughtered meats

At the confluence of storytelling, Africa, rap, and outrage, there lies spoken word

No conflict here: bhangra seduces us all

Disclaimer: The Bwog^TM has not endorsed any content related to any image that may appear on the Bwog^TM.

The signs of spring are everywhere on campus: two students sitting on the lawn listening to a radio, absolutely no frisbees whatsoever, and the season's first whiff of insanity wafting up from Manhattanville. This afternoon's distinctive smell is caused by Anne Whitman, the owner of the former Sheffield Farms stable building. The University is still negotiating the terms of a purchase deal with Whitman, which Bwog supposes is why Ms. Whitman is now asking the university to move the building four blocks. [Emphasis added.]

Insanity! Back-of-the-envelope engineering! Poorly Photoshopped site maps! All after the jump.

Now that Columbia's Manhattanville expansion plans have been approved by the city, the topic has largely disappeared from most students' minds. But for those who've checked out since late December, the plans are entering a new phase. Specifically, the What-Are-We-Actually-Going-to-Put-There phase.

Tonight, at the CCSC's Committee on Manhattanville Expansion's panel on the subject, several professors joined with Provost Alan Brinkley and Vice President of Facilities Phil Pitruzzelo to discuss the remaining ethical problems of displacement and gentrification and to largely ignore the question of what's going into the Manhattanville site. This is because, Pitruzzelo explained—except for some of the buildings in Phase I of the plan, which includes moving the Business School, moving SIPA and building the Mind, Brain and Behavior Center—Columbia hasn't decided what to do with the northern portion of the site. But no matter, onto what the professors had to say.

The February issue of the Blue and White is hitting your newsstand right now! If you don't feel up to an elevator ride, though, it's also available on the web. Here's some highlights.

Interested in the tenure process? Do you understand baseball at least as well as a Little Leaguer? Let us help.

Finally, video games are behind glass. In Queens.

Urban Studies professors speak out (or don't) on Manhattanville.

"The Top 100 Guys I'd Go Gay For", frankly, speaks for itself, as do our Staff Personals.

CityRoom is reporting that a lawyer named Adam Bailey representing small businesses located on Frederick Douglass Blvd. is proposing that 125th Street (from the Hudson to the East) be declared "Harlem Historic Zone."

Characterizing attempts to have 125th street considered historical as "Harlem's last stand", CityRoom quotes Bailey as saying: "When the Brooklyn Bridge was built, they tore down George Washington's house. Was that a good idea?"

While the chances that Bailey succeeds are slim, his attempt comes on the heels of Bloomberg's proposal to re-zone Harlem (the first re-zoning of the area since 1961) to make way for condos and office buildings as high as 29 stories. In the event the push to declare 125th "historic" fails, Bailey says he will settle for some provisions to be made for affordable housing in the area.

- JNW

RAs chained to their rooms, ten pound ball style, seriously

Mark Zuckerberg and Jeremy Bentham, love-buddies.

Wait, no Pinnacle? Wheat, no Nussbaum and Wu?

Meet me on the Champ-Elysees of New York. Oh wait, you can't. You're an RA.

It's all about the Ivy League and the Cotton Club.

Indie rock... and the election!

TC... and the Peace Corps!

Manhattanville... and the Super Bowl! (And the phrase "iron curtain of safety!")

Judy Shapiro... and a vaguely mean knitting joke!

Bwog arrived at City Hall for the second time as the last members of the full group were making their floor speeches and the votes were being tallied. Lacking a press pass and Zach's good timing, your correspondent hiked upstairs to the balcony to find everyone in the administration who has anything to do with expansion arrayed on one side, and the war-weary Coalition to Preserve Community members sitting dejectedly on the other. "I'm waiting," Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin (pictured) said to a colleague before the final count was announced. "I've been waiting for five years."

After the numbers were called and Speaker Christine Quinn reminded everyone that the holiday party would be starting in 15 minutes, security herded the crowd out of the balcony area. "Merry Christmas Robert Jackson! You just sold out Harlem!" a protester shouted. "You will never be mayor of New York City!" another followed up. Familiar strains of "Har-lem, not for sale!" trailed them weakly down the steps.

On the way out, Bwog was handed a press release with PrezBo's response to the vote that had happened minutes before. "As a result," it read, "not only will our universities continue to attract creative minds with the determination to advance knowledge in the service of humankind; they will remain a vibrant source of good, middle-income jobs for a diversity of people seeking to improve their lives there."

A merrier Christmas to you, President Bollinger.

- LBD

Zach van Schouwen reports on all the hooplah down at City Hall, as the Land Use Committee voted on Columbia's Manhattanville plan.

At City Hall, the room is only about half-full for the first 20 minutes of the committee votes on the proposed expansion into Manhattanville. It could be because the temperature in the Council Room is a modest two hundred and fifty degrees, even with all the curtains shut. The more likely reason, though, is that this event is calendared, helpfully, as "Stated Council Meeting," without any further explanation. "Can I get into the meeting?" I asked a security guard when I arrived — "No," he said, "but you can probably take photos of everybody leaving." I walk upstairs, where the chamber doors are wide open, and take one of dozens of available seats.

Of course, all this confusion hasn't stopped Nick Sprayregen from rounding up the usual suspects, who can be seen circulating angry flyers and putting their bags through the metal detector in order to be allowed to shout slogans to a couple of straggler reporters on the steps. When they try to enter Council fifteen minuets later, a few security guards round up everyone with a sign, a "No Eminent Domain Abuse" button, or blond dreadlocks, and shunt them up to the secluded upstairs balcony. Sprayregen manages to evade them and makes it to a chair, where he reads the New York Times through the whole hearing.

After that, though, we're off. In subcommittee, the measure is fairly quickly referred to the full Land Use committee vote. That's when the show begins.

Remember Manhattanville? The Renzo Piano campus Columbia is planning to drop onto a 17 acre swath of West Harlem? Well, the City Council vote, the final step in the relay race that is the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, (which will only decide the fate of the entire project) is rumored to be later today. The timing was a little sneaky -- the City Council technically has until January 15 to make its decision -- but the Community Benefits Agreement listing what Harlem gets out of the deal, is well on its way even if not everyone is agreeing. Traditionally CBAs are finalized just hours before the final vote. (Also see the Observer's speculations about some of the back room dealing.)

Even if you think today's a foregone conclusion (or that it won't actually happen), protest (or counter protest) on the steps of City Hall at 1:00 pm.