Under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city has reversed course, and a state judge on Wednesday signed off on a stipulation<\/a>. With the city\u2019s agreement that the walkway must be reopened and its pledge to take legal action accordingly, the city, mayor and police commissioner are now dropped from the lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201c[I]f College Walk is not immediately opened to the public, the City intends to take prompt legal action to ensure that Columbia reopens the pedestrian walkway consistent with its past practices,\u201d the stipulation says.<\/p>\n New York City and the plaintiffs cite an easement<\/a> dated April 1, 1953, which says, \u201cThe university shall … build a pedestrian walkway 20 feet in width on the portion and volume of said street released to it by the City.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe agreement does not specify that the pedestrian walkway was intended to be used for Columbia University students, faculty, staff and authorized guests only,\u201d Steven Banks, corporation counsel for New York City, said Wednesday at a hearing before New York County Supreme Court Judge David Cohen.<\/p>\n Columbia University takes the position<\/a> that its College Walk, despite the decadeslong history of public passage, is private property. The university cited protests related to Israel\u2019s bombing campaign in Gaza as its reason for locking down the walkway, \u201cin order to keep campus safe for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n A few years ago, the school\u2019s magazine<\/a> referred to the passage as a \u201ctree-lined public walkway.\u201d<\/p>\n Representing the university, attorney Joseph Greenway Jr. did not take a position on the stipulation before Cohen ordered it.<\/p>\n \u201cOur entire argument, on either side, is whether there\u2019s a public easement. The fact that, in the city\u2019s view now, this wasn\u2019t specified only for Columbia people is not an issue for you,\u201d Greenway told the judge.<\/p>\n Cohen denied a preliminary injunction in April.<\/p>\n Attorney Toby Golick, a professor emerita at Cardozo Law, represents the plaintiffs, who say that locking down the 116th Street walkway is both unauthorized and creates a public nuisance for neighbors, including those who are mobility impaired and families with young children.<\/p>\n According to a survey of Columbia students published last year, more than half of students said the campus closure was unjustified, and 78% said they felt \u201csomewhat\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d comfortable with reopening campus, Columbia Spectator<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople in the neighborhood are nice people,\u201d Golick, herself a longtime resident of the neighborhood near Columbia\u2019s main campus, said Wednesday. \u201cThey actually care about the students and would not want to see anyone hurt. And if there was any legitimate fear of students being harmed, you wouldn\u2019t see this lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n Supporters of reopening College Walk expressed concern over the yearslong closure, noting that current seniors are the only active undergraduate students who saw the walkway open.<\/p>\n Golick, a graduate of Columbia Law School, pointed out that other schools that restricted campus access amid student demonstrations in support of Palestine have since lifted those restraints.<\/p>\n \u201cOther schools are open, they\u2019re not suffering from encampments again … and Columbia actually never had, like, fistfights among students,\u201d Golick said. \u201cWe just don\u2019t get it. What are they so afraid of?\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for New York City declined to comment.<\/p>\n Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing
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