NYC Reverses Position, Calls On Columbia To Reopen College Walk

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — New York City is now calling on Columbia University to reopen College Walk to the public, reversing its previous position in an ongoing lawsuit over the campus gates.

“The City supports reopening the walkway through the Columbia University Campus to the public,” city attorneys wrote in a Sept. 3 court filing.

College Walk is a pedestrian-only street through the center of campus along West 116th Street, from Broadway to Amsterdam Avenue.

Columbia began restricting access to its campus amid protests criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza, which included encampments and an occupation of Hamilton Hall led by students and people unaffiliated with the university, the school has said.

The gates were closed as a stopgap measure to quell the campus unrest, but nearly three years later, it’s looking more like the new normal.

Without access to College Walk, Columbia’s campus effectively creates a barrier between West 114th and West 120th streets, forcing people to walk around the university to travel between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

“For us, it’s a moral issue because [College Walk] is a main thoroughfare in Morningside Heights, and it’s not right for them to close it and inconvenience neighbors, especially those who are either senior citizens or mobility-challenged,” Dan McSweeney, a Morningside Heights Community Coalition organizer, previously told Patch.

Toby Golick, a longtime neighbor and Barnard and Columbia Law School graduate, is suing the university over access to College Walk.

She argues that Columbia has a legal obligation to maintain the walkway as a public thoroughfare based on an agreement made with the city when the street was pedestrianized in 1953.

“Columbia owns all of the acreage between 114th Street and 120th Street, but they didn’t originally own 116th Street, which was a public street,” Golick, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 60 years, previously told Patch.

When Columbia incorporated the street into its campus, Golick argues, the university agreed to grant “perpetual pedestrian access.”

Columbia’s lawyers disagree. In a motion to dismiss the case, attorneys for the university argued that no agreement guaranteeing pedestrian access was ever made and that Columbia has the legal right to keep its campus gates shut.

The city had previously aligned itself with Columbia’s position, according to Councilmember Shaun Abreu’s office.

Its new filing now places the city alongside the residents, community advocates and elected officials calling for the walkway to reopen.

"Columbia benefits enormously from New York City, from millions in tax breaks to every mention in their marketing materials, and they should be ashamed for how they have treated the community that has always accommodated them," Abreu said.

Currently, neighbors who live roughly within 30 blocks of the campus can apply for a pass that is scanned along with an ID at certain gates. According to a Columbia spokesperson, roughly 1,200 neighbors have campus-access passes.

“We are focused on ensuring that all of our students feel welcome, safe, and secure on our campus as we also balance the desire for an open campus that is accessible to all of Columbia’s valued constituencies, including our neighbors,” a spokesperson previously told Patch.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said he hopes to work with Columbia and other elected officials on an arrangement that restores public access while protecting students, faculty and staff.

"The closed gates represent a deep betrayal of the spirit of openness and public service that we expect from our institutions of higher learning," Abreu said. "It’s time to open the gates, and I’m grateful to Mayor Mamdani and Corporation Counsel Banks for advancing this cause."

The Morningside Heights Community Coalition has organized repeated demonstrations demanding that the university reopen its grounds — but not its buildings — to the public. Their next demonstration is on Sept. 8, when the fall semester begins.

"If this continues for another year, you’ll have an entire generation of undergraduate students who have only known a locked campus," McSweeney said. "That is just completely unacceptable for so many reasons."

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.

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