State Must Release Columbia Expansion Papers, Court Rules

N.Y./Region July 15, 2008, 5:16 pm
City Room

State Must Release Columbia Expansion Papers, Court Rules
By John Eligon

A state appellate court on Tuesday upheld a decision ordering the Empire State Development Corporation to release documents regarding the expansion of Columbia University to a group that opposes the plans.

The court voted, 3 to 1, to uphold a June 2007 decision by Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich of State Supreme Court that said the corporation’s decision to hire a consultant that also worked for Columbia was a conflict of interest. That conflict meant that correspondences between the corporation and the consultant were not exempt from public disclosure laws and needed to be released, Justice Kornreich ruled.

But the appellate court did find that certain documents were indeed exempt and did not need to be released.

The state in 2006 hired the consultant Allee King Rosen & Fleming Inc., or A.K.R.F., to conduct a study to determine whether the state would be justified in using its power of eminent domain to condemn property sought by Columbia for its expansion. A.K.R.F. was already working with Columbia on the expansion.

Consultants dealing with state agencies may be exempt from public disclosure laws, but in this case the judges found that a conflict of interest nullified the exemption in certain areas.

“Supreme Court clearly had reason to doubt A.K.R.F.’s independence, objectivity and sense of what good judgment calls for,” because of the consultant’s ties to Columbia, Judge James M. Catterson wrote in his majority opinion.

The appellate decision was praised by the West Harlem Business Group, which has been trying to obtain that documents and has been opposed to its members being removed from their properties to accommodate the expansion.

Nick Sprayregen, a member for the group, said the court’s ruling affirmed his belief “that the whole process of Columbias request for the state to condemn private property is tainted with conflicts of interest.”

Warner Johnston, a spokesman for Empire State Development, said the corporation would “expeditiously” turn over the required documents.

“We are gratified that the court rejected plaintiff’s additional claims,” he wrote in an e-mail message.

Among the communications that the court ruled did not need to be turned over were correspondences addressing how the agency would respond to an inquiry about its role in the project and e-mails discussing the scheduling of meetings involving the project.
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Buildings and Landmarks,
Courts and Law,
Higher Education,
Land Use and Planning,
Manhattan,
Columbia University,
Empire State Development Corporation,
Harlem,
Morningside Heights

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