Neighbors suing Columbia University to regain access to College Walk footpath
What is known as College Walk through the heart of Columbia University is now at the heart of a legal battle.
The footpath connecting Broadway and Amsterdam on West 116th Street in Upper Manhattan was open to the public for decades until the university closed it for safety reasons.
Now, some residents are suing to get it back.
Read more:
Here's what the lawsuit claims
The block is off-limits to the public, with gates locked and security guards allowing access only to members of the university community.
The public's access through the area dates to 1953 and the lawsuit claims the deal made back then is binding. The suit also claims the university is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Neighbor Phil Auffray started a petition and then became one of three plaintiffs demanding the public be allowed to return.
"It always adds more time to anything you do and I have sciatica. So every step I take, I feel it," Auffray said.
Morningside Heights resident George Greene said it forces him six blocks out of his way.
"My medical, I use Mt. Sinai, which is on Amsterdam, so if I can't cut through here, I gotta go all the way down and then come back up to 114th Street," Greene said.
"I'd say it's better for the community to have it open to everybody," another person added.
Protests paved the way for public's loss of access
Part of what led to the change was prolonged campus protests. But when demonstrations died down, the restrictions remained.
"At first, they begin to do the closures any time there was a demonstration and then they just closed it entirely," said Toby Golick, the attorney for the neighbors. "What they are doing, in my view, is complete overkill."
A spokeswoman for Columbia said in a statement, "The University is evaluating Morningside campus access on an ongoing basis. We continue to communicate regularly with our neighbors and the local community regarding these and other modifications to campus access."
A court date for the case is set for March 5 .
