NYC takes on Columbia over locked campus walkway

Under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city has agreed that the school is required by a 73-year-old easement to keep a cross-campus walkway open to the public. MANHATTAN (CN) — New York City agreed to take “prompt legal action” against Columbia University to ensure the school reopens the pedestrian walkway across its upper Manhattan campus, citing a 1953 provision requiring that the passage be open to the public.For 70 years, the walkway known as College Walk allowed for easy passage between Broadway and Amsterdam avenues, keeping the stretch of 116th Street accessible to members of the community and serving as a public gathering space.In 2023, amid pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments on the campus, the university restricted access to students and staff. Neighborhood residents filed suit two years ago against the university and New York City, after which the university launched a guest registration process. Then-Mayor Eric Adams’ administration initially filed a motion to dismiss.Under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city has reversed course, and a state judge on Wednesday signed off on a stipulation. With the city’s agreement that the walkway must be reopened and its pledge to take legal action accordingly, the city, mayor and police commissioner are now dropped from the lawsuit.“[I]f College Walk is not immediately opened to the public, the City intends to take prompt legal action to ensure that Columbia reopens the pedestrian walkway consistent with its past practices,” the stipulation says.New York City and the plaintiffs cite an easement dated April 1, 1953, which says, “The university shall … build a pedestrian walkway 20 feet in width on the portion and volume of said street released to it by the City.”“The agreement does not specify that the pedestrian walkway was intended to be used for Columbia University students, faculty, staff and authorized guests only,” Steven Banks, corporation counsel for New York City, said Wednesday at a hearing before New York County Supreme Court Judge David Cohen.Columbia University takes the position that its College Walk, despite the decadeslong history of public passage, is private property. The university cited protests related to Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza as its reason for locking down the walkway, “in order to keep campus safe for everyone.”A few years ago, the school’s magazine referred to the passage as a “tree-lined public walkway.”Representing the university, attorney Joseph Greenway Jr. did not take a position on the stipulation before Cohen ordered it.“Our entire argument, on either side, is whether there’s a public easement. The fact that, in the city’s view now, this wasn’t specified only for Columbia people is not an issue for you,” Greenway told the judge.Cohen denied a preliminary injunction in April.Attorney Toby Golick, a professor emerita at Cardozo Law, represents the plaintiffs, who say that locking down the 116th Street walkway is both unauthorized and creates a public nuisance for neighbors, including those who are mobility impaired and families with young children.According to a survey of Columbia students published last year, more than half of students said the campus closure was unjustified, and 78% said they felt “somewhat” or “very” comfortable with reopening campus, Columbia Spectator reported.“People in the neighborhood are nice people,” Golick, herself a longtime resident of the neighborhood near Columbia’s main campus, said Wednesday. “They actually care about the students and would not want to see anyone hurt. And if there was any legitimate fear of students being harmed, you wouldn’t see this lawsuit.”Supporters of reopening College Walk expressed concern over the yearslong closure, noting that current seniors are the only active undergraduate students who saw the walkway open.Golick, a graduate of Columbia Law School, pointed out that other schools that restricted campus access amid student demonstrations in support of Palestine have since lifted those restraints.“Other schools are open, they’re not suffering from encampments again … and Columbia actually never had, like, fistfights among students,” Golick said. “We just don’t get it. What are they so afraid of?”A spokesperson for New York City declined to comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads