The Observer's Matthew Schuerman has a few interesting stories about Columbia's Manhattanville expansion plans. An article published today looks at how the University of Pennsylvania's successful (and more community-embraced) urban transformation could potentially inform Columbia's plans, now that former Penn president Judith Rodin's book, The University & Urban Revival has hit the bookshelves. Rodin, now the president of the Rockefeller Foundation, only says that the conversations she has had with Columbia president Lee Bollinger have been minimal. She also said, "Columbia has a much tougher job. They are incredibly landlocked and so the stakes are even higher. Unless [Columbia and the community] work together, it is not going to work." more ›

DISCUSSION: Is New York losing it's New York charm? Tonight contributors to the new tome "The Suburbanization of New York" will talk about just that (and is conveniently located down the street from H&M and Pottery Barn). The panel includes Marshall Berman, Eric Darton, Francis Morrone, Matthew Schuerman, Neil Smith, Michael Sorkin, and Suzanne Wasserman. more ›

After Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver blocked Governor Pataki's Moynihan Station plans last October, we wondered how Governor Spitzer would take up the task and spar with Silver. To refresh your memory, Spitzer's problem with Pataki's Moynihan Station plans was that they were incomplete, given that developers had more extensive ideas about a Farley Post Office and Madison Square Garden revitalization (known as "plan B"); Pataki, on the other hand, wanted to get the plan A moving to take advantage of federal funds. more ›

The Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday stalled Aby Rosen and Norman Foster’s proposed glass tower above the 1949 Parke-Bernet building at 980 Madison Avenue. While the commission didn’t formally reject the plan, it did not approve the addition or support a zoning waiver, two requirements for the project to proceed. All but one commissioner said during the public meeting at the Surrogate’s Court building that they could not support the building because of its scale, massing, materials and location. more ›

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