Home Harlem Gentrification Robert Jackson: The Man With The Power to Save Harlem From Gentrification
Robert Jackson: The Man With The Power to Save Harlem From Gentrification Print E-mail
Written by Kwesi McDavid-Arno   
The one elected official who has the most sway over the planned Columbia expansion into West Harlem is City Councilman Robert Jackson, who represents the district. In an interview with BlackBallot.com, Robert Jackson was kind enough to explain the governmental process that Columbia must go through in order to obtain approval for its proposed new campus in West Harlem. Please click on article link to see the video interview.

The Uniform Land Use Review Procedure ULURP is the process established as part of the New York City Charter in order to allow the public, or the government that supposedly represents the public, to review any proposal that affects the land use of the City. The ULURP establishes time frames in which the various governmental organizations must review and vote upon the proposed land use application. These governmental organs are the Community Board, the Borough President, the City Panning Commission, and the City Council, which has the final deciding vote. This is where Robert Jackson is the key. He holds the power. There are two opposing plans on the table the Community 197a Plan developed by the Community Board 9 and Columbias 197c Plan.

The Columbia 197c Plan will displace over 5000 Black and Latino residents of West Harlem and bring a hazardous biotech lab to the center of a populated area and right next to the Hudson River, making West Harlem a wonderful terrorist target. The Community Board which represents the area has developed a plan for Columbias Expansion that takes the welfare of the community residents into consideration. The Community Boards 197a Plan is one that ensures the welfare of the environment and the people of West Harlem. A comparison of the Community 197a Plan and Columbia 197c Plan can be seen at www.stopcolumbia.org.

Unfortunately, the ULURP Process is a sham. Although Community Board 9, the organ which truly represents the pulse of the people of West Harlem, has been almost unanimous in its support of the 197a Plan, many of the Citys current and former Black elected officials have come out on the side of Columbias 197c Plan.

Columbia has not been engaged with the community but rather has implemented a strategy of using Black star power to push through its agenda. Columbia has hired a high powered democratic consulting firm, thus ensuring leverage over the Citys local democratic politicians. BlackBallot.com writer Keisha Saul wrote a groundbreaking investigative report on the issue for the July 22 issue of The Weekly Report. The New York Post published its own article on the unscrupulous tactics that Columbia has utilized on September 19, 2007.

On August 20 of this year, a Community Board 9 public hearing was held. Columbias consulting firm solicited the assistance of Rev. Williams of the Addicts Rehabilitation Center ARC which is located in East Harlem. During the hearing, ARC planted a number of its clients in the crowd as proColumbia demonstrators. This is something I witnessed first hand. While passing out literature at the hearing, I was approached by one of the members of ARC who told me that he had been holding a proColumbia sign. He explained that only after an older man from Harlem Community Board 9 scolded him for his actions, he only then learned what was actually taking place. The ARC client, who lives in Mt. Vernon, expressed regret over holding the sign without knowing the issues it represented.

Local elected officials have ignored local activist groups such as the Coalition to Preserve Community and allowed Columbias consultants to weave an image of support from the local community for Columbias expansion.

Furthermore, I was scheduled to testify at Borough President Scott Stringers hearing on September 19, but once there I was ignored like several other community residents. The Borough President was unnecessarily hostile towards the crowd and seemed intent on provoking an angry response in order to shut the hearing down. In fact, Columbias President Lee Bollinger stated on NY1 the night before the hearing that Scott Stringer was supporting the Columbia plan. Less than ten days later, Stringer announced that he had reached his own scaled down version of a Community Benefits Agreement with Columbia, the details of which have not been made public. Scott Stringer has a representative on the Local Development Corporation
LDC, the nonprofit entity established to negotiate with Columbia. By negotiating directly with Columbia, Stringer has undermined the community negotiation process of the LDC and, most importantly, denied the citizens of West Harlem the right to a democratic process.

The City Council is the last hope for the people. The City Planning Commission established a West Harlem Local Development Corporation to negotiate directly with Columbia. The process is confusing by design. The City Planning Commission sets up the LDC to negotiate with the Columbia, but then they approve Columbias plan before they allow the LDC to negotiate. It was not until I interviewed Councilman Jackson on September 19 that I knew of the West Harlem LDCs existence.
www.westharlemldc.org Since then, I've watched the entire corrupt process unfold.

Scott Stringer and George W. Bush are cut from the same racist cloth. He would have never done what he did uptown if he were downtown or in Community Board 7 Upper West Side, but this is Harlem and who cares if poor Black and Latino people are denied their rights. If the LDC is unable to negotiate a deal with Columbia, which is becoming obvious that they wont. The LDC is supposed to establish a Community Benefits Agreement with Columbia. If the local elected officials negotiate directly with Columbia it eliminates any leverage the LDC will have in its negotiation process with Columbia to secure concessions for the community. In fact, three members of the LDC Tom DeMott, Nick Sprayregen, and Luisa Henriquez just resigned on November 28 out of disgust and in protest of the process which has been totally rigged from the start.

Robert Jackson will indeed be the one to enter into and decide final negotiations with Columbia as he states in the video. He is the man that holds the future of Harlem in his hands. I just hope he holds onto to it for his people instead of giving it away to Columbia.