In a test case that could serve as an organizing model for other communities, the non-profit West Harlem Local Development Corporation has been created specifically to negotiate with Columbia University as it plans a major campus expansion.
"In the past few years, community benefits agreements have emerged as vital to large development projects in New York, and this LDC was formed in an attempt to answer the question of precisely who in a given community should sit across the negotiating table."
"The goal is through the seats on the board, as well as forming working groups or committees and additional outreach, to look at what would meet the needs of and be representative of the community district," said Patricia Jones, the LDC's president.
"Those needs include addressing high unemployment and the rising rents that are making it difficult for lifelong residents to stick around. The community board has said that any agreement must cover affordable housing, jobs, job training, and access to new facilities, among other things."
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