Columbia sued by senior citizens over blocked access to quad after Israel-Gaza war protests: ‘Made my life more difficult’

A cohort of gray-haired uptown residents are suing Columbia University over the closure of its “College Walk,” a stretch of quad space on its Morningside Heights campus cut off to the public after Israel-Gaza war student protests last year.

Fuming neighbors argue the closure violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by preventing older residents from moving around the neighborhood — and also breaks a 70-year-old deal between the university and the city that granted the campus access to West 116th Street in the first place.

“By making the subway more difficult to get to, Columbia has made my life more difficult by blocking what is a public street,” 67-year-old plaintiff Christine Ruyter told The Post.

“It’s not just me, there’s my neighbors who are much older and much less mobile than I am,” Ruyter added. “They become housebound because of Columbia’s problem.”

The locals also argue the closure, which first went into effect in 2023 and sporadically reopened several times since, creates a six-block “barrier” between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue from West 120th to West 114th Street.

The closure only permits those with a valid Columbia ID onto the main campus, which includes College Walk.

The outcome is an extra 15-minute walk or more to public transit for those who live on the other side of the campus — according Toby Golick, to the attorney for the plaintiffs — which has affected residents like Phillipe Auffrey’s 97-year-old mother.

“I used to take my mother out on campus, or my sister would take her out on campus so she could sit on one of the benches and get some sunlight,” Auffrey, another plaintiff in the case, said.

“We’d take her through campus to catch the number four bus so she could get a pedicure or something like that,” he added. “Adding all these extra blocks so she has to navigate around all the obstacles that Columbia has on the sidewalk on 114th Street, it’s hard on her.”

“There’s a lot of senior citizens involved in this petition, because for them, it’s extra blocks. And Columbia has done nothing to accommodate us at all,” said Auffrey, who is also joined by an 86-year-old and 92-year-old resident in the lawsuit.

Golick said the 92-year-old local does her regular grocery shopping on the other side of the campus, making it “very hard for her to carry packages” during the extended commute.

“114th Street can be dark and narrow and icy, and the campus is safe,” Golick added. “Columbia’s campus makes a blockade.”

The lawsuit also names the Department of Transportation and the NYPD — neither of which responded to a request for comment Thursday afternoon — as well as the city of New York. A spokesperson for the city said the city hasn’t been served the lawsuit yet.

“The University is evaluating Morningside campus access on an ongoing basis,” a Columbia University spokesperson told The Post.

“We are focused on ensuring that all of our students feel welcome, safe, and secure on our campus as we also balance the desire for an open campus that is accessible to all of Columbia’s valued constituencies, including our neighbors. Columbia’s commitment to New York City and to our community, as well as the daily experiences of our neighbors, weighs heavily on our decision-making. We will continue to communicate with our neighbors and community.”

Some members of the public who have expressed hardship because of campus restrictions have been granted access to campus, the spokesperson pointed out — but plaintiffs say the process is difficult for elderly residents who aren’t used to navigating smart phones or e-mail.

Columbia reportedly paid $1,000 to the city in 1953 to close the formerly public West 116th Street to Columbia with certain restrictions, according to the lawsuit, including “an easement over a proposed pedestrian walk to be constructed by the university.”

The walkway, described as the “main artery of Columbia’s campus” per the university’s website, was used for the next 70 years as a safe passage for pedestrians traveling east and west, as well as a gathering space for neighbors, young families, Columbia alumni and family members of university staff.

College Walk has been open to the public “day and night seven days a week since 1984,” the lawsuit adds. Graduation events, other ceremonies and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks have served as reasons for brief closures.

“It’s terrible that people can’t get on campus. After I graduate, I want to be able to access campus,” 31-year-old Columbia graduate student Sam Nahins told The Post. 

“I don’t want this to be some kind of TSA zone,” he said – but contended the public can’t step back onto campus “until we can guarantee safety.” 

“It’s obviously a shame that Columbia’s gates have to be closed, but it’s absolutely a necessity,” chimed Columbia junior Elisha Baker, “what we saw last spring, and what we’ve seen with the pro Palestine protesters, is continued stated intent and actual behavior that invites outsiders to the gates – and when possible, through the gate to disrupt and to harass Jewish students.”

“I blame The Free Palestine movement entirely for the gates closing,” the 22-year-old added. 

While Columbia finally offered access to College Walk to residents across the street from the College president’s residence on Morningside Drive – residents who endured earlier demonstrations in front of the president’s house and related street closures – locals from other parts of Morningside Heights haven’t been afforded the same opportunity, the plaintiffs argue.

“I had police who wouldn’t let me into my own building where I live. This went on for months and months and months and months,” said Auffrey, who has lived in the same building on West 116th Street since 1966. 

Since the campus closed to the public, Golick contends clients like 86-year-old Mary Allen, who loved to spend her free time in the quad, have lost a vital lifeline to the rest of the community.

“She loved to just sit there and watch the students, there’s often rehearsals and parents with their toddlers, it was a lively place,” Golick said. “And now it’s sort of a dead place.”

“I don’t blame the guards … but they sit there in their booths, and they tell me they’ll charge me with trespassing if I walk through,” Ruyter added. “I don’t really care that much if I’m arrested for this, but it’s a pain in the neck. 

“I just want to go about my business doing things in New York City that I pay all the high prices of living in New York to be able to do.”