Harlem group sitting on Columbia-aid cash
Columbia University gave a West Harlem group $3.5 million, and all the community got for its money were some consultants and a temporary job program for teens.
The money is part of a $76 million pot of cash Columbia has pledged to the community to ease the burden of its controversial $6.3 billion expansion in the Manhattanville neighborhood.
But organizational problems continue to plague the group in charge of doling out the money.
The West Harlem Local Development Corp. was set up in 2006, but the group still has no executive director, no Web site and no means for the community to apply for the money.
“In these desperate economic times, it is crucial these funds be disbursed for the benefit of Harlem residents,” said Vincent Morgan, a Harlem resident and former congressional candidate.
Donald Notice, chairman of West Harlem LDC’s board, said the group was about a month away from having “everything in order.”
“We’re working extremely hard,” Notice said. “We don’t want to spend money and not have an infrastructure in place.”
He said the group did spend $302,000 last summer on a jobs programs for 200 teens and about $400,000 to hire consultants.
By ISABEL VINCENT and MELISSA KLEIN