Published: December 10, 2009

Fordham University has responded to the lawsuit filed in October by representatives from the Alfred Condominum, located on W. 61st Street,  saying that the University “[does not] know yet whether [the lawsuit] will affect the [master plan] or delay its implementation.”

The Board of Managers for the Alfred has said that it is not opposed to Fordham’s plan because of expansion, but because Fordham is selling some of their own land and subsequently “seeking to build excessively on the remaining land because they don’t have enough.” Eliot Meisel, attorney for the Alfred, claims that, for years, the board has been negotiating with Fordham to mitigate the development plan to be “more consistent with the vision of the entire neighborhood.”

Bob Howe, director of communications for Fordham College at Lincoln Center, said “The University has been extraordinarily responsive to the community’s requests, and has worked with elected representatives and the Planning Commission to reach a mutually beneficial plan for development of the Lincoln Center campus.”

The affidavit also references the 1958 transfer of land to the University, which obligated Fordham to develop the land for public use. Sidney Goldfischer, president of the Alfred’s board of managers, argues that if Fordham sells some of its land (likely to private luxury condominium developers), “substantial portions of the land will not have been put to the intended public use and will instead be put to a purely private use, to profit Fordham.”

Howe said, “The plan has undergone many changes in response to community requests and requests from the New York City Planning Commission and New York City Council, including substantial revisions in the past year.”

In court, Fordham’s own legal counsel will counter Meisel’s representation of the Alfred, as well as the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, who will represent the City, the Mayor and the City Council. Fordham’s legal counsels include Georgina Arendacs, Thomas Dejulio, Vincenzo S. Lippiello and Claudia Mancia-Parone, all of whom are located at the Rose Hill campus.