Columbia University Pledges $300k to Grant Program Benefiting Inwood Parks

INWOOD, NY — Five years after striking a deal with the city to expand its massive uptown athletic complex, Columbia University is ready to live up to its end of the bargain.

In 2011 the university and the New York City Planning Commission agreed that in order to construct a new boathouse and field, Columbia would have to make some concessions to the Inwood community. In exchange for relaxed zoning regulations, Columbia pledged to donate $300,000 — $100,000 annually for three years — to support Inwood parks. The deal is known as the Baker Field Agreement, and can be seen here.

Three years went by, and the community didn't see zilch. But that's about to change.

Columbia University will pledge $300,000 to a community grant program run by the City Parks Foundation to benefit Inwood Hill Park, Muscota Marsh and Isham Parks, the CPF announced Thursday.

“We have been investing in Inwood Parks for years through our free sports programs for youth and seniors, our PuppetMobile, our Catalyst Program and our Capacity Building Grants to community groups. We’re thrilled to be able to expand our support through this new grant,” Heather Lubov, executive director of the CPF, said in a statement.

Community groups and nonprofit organizations that use any of the three parks can apply for grants ranging from $500 to $15,000. The grant money will be awarded for projects involving park improvements, stewardship projects and park events.

The grant money will by distributed in four yearly cycles until all of the $300,000 is allocated. The first deadline for grant applications is Nov. 1, just months away. Subsequent application deadlines will be held March 1, 2017, Aug. 1, 2017 and March 1, 2018. All projects must be complete by Dec. 1, 2019, according to the CPF.

All grant applications will be reviewed by a panel that includes staff from the CPF and the city parks department. According to the 2011 Baker Field Agreement, the $300,000 was initially supposed to be pledged directly to the parks department, or another organization mutually chosen by Columbia and a chosen representative of Inwood — also confusingly known as the "organization" DNAinfo reported in 2014.

According to the 2011 agreement "the department and the organization will determine how to best use the funds."

The line where this second "organization" to represent the community interests of Inwod is supposed to be named was left blank. But in the years following the 2011 agreement, a nonprofit organization named Conservancy North petitioned Columbia to award them the money to restore and improve neighborhood parks, DNAinfo reported in 2014. From the perspective of Conservancy North, it is the "organization" unnamed in the 2011 agreement, because the group and its lawyers were involved in negotiating the terms of the agreement.

Thursday's announcement of the creation of the Inwood Parks Grant program does not mention Conservancy North by name. But despite the group being held out of the process of allocating the money, it is still glad Columbia is finally following up on its pledge, Concervancy North Chair Roger Meyer told Patch.

“We are happy that Columbia University is finally making the money available to community groups. While the Baker Field CBA was a needlessly long process that warrants scrutiny, we can learn from it with the hope that someday there is a CBA framework in order to improve transparency and outcomes for the community,” Meyer said.

As for the parks department, it celebrated Thursday's announcement.

"[The parks department's] partnerships with creative, caring local organizations are shaping a bright, green future for our parks and our city," parks department Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver said in a statement. "That is why we are thrilled that Columbia and City Parks Foundation are making new resources available to our park stakeholders and partners to strengthen and enliven our natural and recreational assets."

Columbia University is teaming up with the CPF because the foundation had the infrastructure in place to award grants to community organizations, said CPF spokeswoman Kate Nemetz. The CPF has run a similar program, the Partnerships for Parks Capacity Fund Grants, since 2004. That program served as a model for the new Inwood Parks Grant program.

The public-private partnership will allow the CPF to advance its goal of supporting city parks and will allow Columbia to finally follow through on its pledge to the community.

"Columbia University is pleased to be able to work with New York City Parks, local elected officials and civic leaders to make these funding opportunities available,” Maxine Griffith, executive vice president for government and community affairs at Columbia, said in a statement. "Great parks are an important part of City life. Our neighbors and locally based organizations are strong partners in preserving and enhancing Northern Manhattan parks and we are delighted that these funds will further support their efforts to improve and revitalize Inwood Hill, Isham and Muscota Parks."

Find out if your organization is eligible for grant money, and find out how to apply.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said Baker Field Agreement states the money would be given to the parks department or an organization mutually chosen by Columbia and the parks department. The agreement actually states the money will be given to the department or an organization mutually chosen by Columbia and an "organization" chosen to represent Inwood. Patch regrets this error.

Photo: Flickr User Kristine Paulus via Creative Commons