United for an Open and Strong Community

United for an Open and Strong Community

COALITION TO PRESERVE COMMUNITY - United for an Open and Strong Community POST OFFICE BOX 50 - Manhattanville Station 365 West 125th Street NEW York city, new York 10027

The Coalition to Preserve Community brought together groups and individuals dedicated to promoting the vitality and diversity of our neighborhoods and preserving the residential character of our community. For over two years we have been holding regular and open public meetings. Our strategy has been to inform the community about Columbia's expansion plan and how it will affect us and to organize a defense against it. Our direct and persistent calls for accountability by CU at every public meeting from 103rd to 168th Street, our consistent follow-up at CB 9, and our insistence that the bottom line interests of this diverse working class community not receive business as usual treatment, are what distinguish the CPC's independent advocacy perspective We are united in our determination to ensure a beneficial development that addresses the community's basic needs without displacing our homes and businesses.

We have worked systematically with our Community Board 9 in formulating and supporting the 197A Plan to achieve these goals. We support the 197A Plan because it addresses the community’s basic needs: (a) real affordable housing and protection for residents in the 7 buildings CU wants removed, (b) sustainable economic development with job creation for residents and that supports current businesses and the maintenance of manufacturing zoning elements, (c) increasing social service needs, (d) the need for preservation of the area’s historical and architectural integrity and, (e) a healthy, safe, and viable environment.

The Coalition to Preserve Community is united in our determination to promote development that addresses these basic needs and in our opposition to any development that ignores them - including CU's bulldozer tactics and the use of eminent domain.

1) Affordable housing must both be preserved and created for long term local residents at income levels reflecting CB9’s current social make-up. Public housing must not be privatized, subsidies must not be taken away from those who need them, educational, health and other not for profit institutions must cease converting community residential housing into institutional use, and new housing that meets the needs of low income tenants must be created. All current residents must remain in their current homes.

2) Economic development must be about protecting locally owned businesses and providing living wage jobs with a future for local residents. Training programs and educational opportunities must be in place to address any disparities in skill levels prevalent in the community. Zoning must continue to allow manufacturing uses.

3) There must be sufficient community facilities to provide the social services essential for the well being of CB9 residents. There should be space for advocacy groups, supervised youth activities, centers for seniors, and health care delivery.

4) Historical and architectural integrity of existing structures must be preserved and new structures must be contextual to the size and bulk of surrounding ones.

5) All ongoing practices must result in a healthy, safe, and viable environment for all of our residents. (Note: The implications of CU's proposed placement of a biotech park in a primarily low income, black and Hispanic neighborhood combined with their planned removal of residents through primary and secondary displacement should be obvious.)

These are basic and bottom line needs. Any development plan must incorporate them as integral components of an enforceable Community Benefits Agreement. That CBA must be developed by an inclusive, independent and accountable body which reflects the composition of the CB 9 population with participants who are independent of Columbia.

For additional information contact: Coalition to Preserve Community (CPC), P.O. BOX 50 Manhattanville Station, 365 West 125th Street, New York, NY 10027. Call: 212-666-6426.