Trouble with the Columbia CBA

The New York Post reported yesterday that the West Harlem Local Development Corporation--the quasi-private nonprofit set up to negotiate and implement the Columbia expansion CBA--hasn't exactly been keeping up with its responsibilities. Apparently, it has yet to come up with a mission statement, secure tax exempt status, or even set up a phone line. Nor has it created funding guidelines for the $76 million Columbia is supposed to invest into the community over the next 15 years, which means that it hasn't yet been able to disburse any of the $500,000 it's already gotten from the university. The Post makes it sound like the entire CBA is in jeopardy, but that's probably not the case, at least as long as Columbia keeps making its payments. What might jeopardize the CBA, however, is an upcoming court challenge to the state's use of eminent domain on Columbia's behalf.