A well-organized group of residents near Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus are gearing up with a team of consultants and lobbyists to fight the school’s expansion plans.
The residents, who have formed a group known as Fordham Neighbors Unite, have brought on land-use attorney Howard Goldman, the lobbying firm Capalino + Company, and the political strategy/PR firm Knickerbocker SKD. (The latter, led by Josh Isay, is also representing Caroline Kennedy in her bid to be named to Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate seat.)
The residents are opposed to a plan by Fordham to add 2.35 million square feet to existing campus, which is on a spacious two-block “superblock” bounded by 60th and 62nd streets and Amsterdam and Columbus avenues. The plan is at the start of the city’s seven-month land-use approval process, which ultimately needs approval from the City Planning Commission and the City Council. Community Board 7 is slated to give a non-binding vote on the topic next Wednesday (a draft resolution is here). read more »
