At a demonstration led by Defend Harlem on Monday night, scores of Columbia students and locals gathered in front of the gates at 116th Street and Broadway, calling for a stop to Columbia’s growth into West Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood.
Student speeches and chants during the demonstration demanded that Columbia adhere to the Community Benefits Agreement, that the Fairway Properties be restored, and that West Harlem people have access to more reasonably priced homes and commercial spaces.
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The New York Interfaith Commission for Housing Equality is a “coalition composed of passionate faith leaders from across Harlem” that advocates against the displacement of Harlem residents. Defend Harlem is an initiative developed by the commission in partnership with Young Atlas to raise awareness about displacement through media content, public event organization, petition creation, and collaboration with other activism and social justice organizations.
In the past, Defend Harlem has coordinated demonstrations with Columbia University Apartheid Divest and Harlem for Palestine. One such demonstration was a speaker panel titled “Community and Resistance from Harlem to Palestine” that took place in Marcus Garvey Park on September 15.
The first student speaker said that because of “Columbia’s repression and threats of police violence from the NYPD,” Defend Harlem members were there but would not be speaking at the rally.
Housing Equity Project’s organizer, Tali Beckwith-Cohen, BC ’25, stated that the group has been actively interacting with various extra-university community organizations.
Beckwith-Cohen stated, “We really, this semester, really wanted to focus on making sure that we’re connected with groups in the community … and supporting the community efforts that are fighting Columbia and offering our support from the inside.”
During the demonstration, Defend Harlem made their six main requests about Columbia’s connection with West Harlem known. The first demand is that the university cease dispersing students from its growing satellite campuses. The second is to create job-producing developments, such as a shopping mall, to maintain the 125th Street Waterfront and 12th Avenue Area.
An official from the University sent a statement to the Spectator, “Columbia continues to prioritize engagement with our local community as we fully realize the vision of our Manhattanville campus in West Harlem.”
The statement noted that, “In accordance with the project’s plan, additional sites that will be developed over the next two decades will create academic, research, housing, and recreational spaces, as well as public retail, cultural, and community programming amenities along Broadway and 12th Avenue.”
Furthermore, Defend Harlem demanded that Columbia construct new homes and commercial buildings on the Fairway Properties, which were once owned by the supermarket store Fairway Market, and give them back to the neighborhood. They also insisted that the University revise the Community Benefits Agreement and disclose its real estate holdings. An appointment of a member of the Harlem neighborhood to the University’s board of trustees was the organizers’ final demand.
The significance of acknowledging the University’s conduct and the ability of students to hold the University responsible were stressed by Bliss Davis, CC ’25.
Davis noted, “It’s an obligation of ours as Columbia students, I suppose, to resist, to acknowledge, to take advantage of our position in the University, to ensure that the University is held accountable.”
He noted, “I think we have a lot of power in that respect and we need to use it.”
Signs reading “Fairway belongs to Harlem!,” “Housing Justice = Columbia out of Harlem,” and “No more land grabs!” were carried by demonstrators. People come before profit. Several demonstrators distributed flyers with the words “Stop Displacement.”
Students delivered remarks and shouted, “Columbia, Columbia, open your eyes, Harlem is not yours to buy,” throughout the demonstration. “Armstrong we’re watching you, you’re destroying Harlem too,” “Open up the campus gates,” and “Housing is a human right” were among the other slogans.
A Columbia student gave a lecture in which they discussed “Columbia’s past and present of segregation and racism,” including previous University President Nicholas Murray Butler’s 1920s attempts to buy land between 114th and 122nd Streets as well as between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. According to the student, the expansion was made to keep Black people from ” moving in near Columbia.”
Speaking about “Ivy Imperialism,” a different speaker asserted that Columbia ignores community opinions and breaks pledges to invest in West Harlem.
The speaker remarked, “Columbia’s promises of community investment and collaboration are worth less than the paper they’re printed on.”
Manhattanville proposal has “strong support” from the community, according to a University spokeswoman who submitted a letter to Spectator.
A University representative sent a statement to Spectator saying, “We never take the community’s support for granted, and we work every day to identify new and more effective ways to contribute to a thriving Manhattanville and West Harlem community for all.”
The representative added, “We welcome any opportunity to engage with all, and especially new, stakeholders to hear their ideas for how the University can address the needs and priorities of the local communities.”
Claimants that Columbia is disregarding the Community Benefits Agreement they made with the West Harlem Development Corporation in 2009 was one of the main topics of contention for the demonstrators.
Columbia has “only given 2 percent of the money for local engagement in 15 years, only paid half of what it promised for affordable housing,” according to one speaker.
The pledged monies, according to the protestors, are insufficient.
A demonstrator stated during their speech, “Columbia receives more money every year from its tax-exempt status as a so-called nonprofit, $170 million, than it gives to Harlem, than it has given to Harlem, since the establishment of the CBA.”
Defend Harlem’s Brandon Tizol expressed gratitude for the enthusiasm and attendance of the demonstration.
“It’s really heartening to see the students coming together with the broader community demands,” Tizol stated.
For Beckwith-Cohen, the occasion was only the beginning of a continuing partnership with the neighborhood and Defend Harlem.
“It’s a really great first step to build momentum, build support, build some education, build some networking,” Beckwith-Cohen said about the protest. “Just show that students are aware of this.”
