Staff Reports
New reporting has blown the lid off a sleepy little scandal in Harlem: a community‑benefits war chest tied to Columbia’s Manhattanville expansion that was supposed to help locals now sits under the care of a nonprofit that, according to recent coverage, has been wasting, hoarding and handing out favors instead of affordable housing. The New York Post’s exposé says Columbia “washed its hands” of the fund and asks why Attorney General Letitia James hasn’t opened a public probe. Those are serious charges and deserve answers — fast.
The Post exposé and the money in question
The story being reported centers on the West Harlem Development Corporation, the 501(c)(3) set up to manage the community‑benefits money tied to Columbia’s Manhattanville deal. The press piece says tens of millions were supposed to pay for local economic development and affordable housing but instead became grants for tiny arts groups, bloated salaries and questionable projects. Columbia’s own Manhattanville materials acknowledge a multi‑tens‑of‑millions benefits fund, even if different public accounts use slightly different totals. The key point: a large pot of public‑interest money is being held by a nonprofit that now faces accusations of mismanagement.
Public records, nonprofit filings and a federal lawsuit
The complaint isn’t just gossip. WHDC’s public filings show sizable assets and executive compensation lines. A federal lawsuit filed last year by a former WHDC housing director alleges discriminatory conduct and contains serious claims about workplace tapes and improper behavior. Those court papers are on the record in federal court and make the whole mess harder to ignore. Whether every allegation will hold up in court is for the judge to decide. But the mix of big dollars, charity filings and litigation is a textbook red flag for the state charities regulator.
Where’s the Attorney General?
That brings us to Attorney General Letitia James. The AG’s office has a Charities Bureau. It has taken bold action on other hot‑button cases. Yet there is no public announcement that the office has opened a formal enforcement action into WHDC. You can squint and say investigations sometimes move quietly — and that’s true — but officials who love snapping photos and grandstanding on other matters should be able to explain why this one gets nothing. New Yorkers deserve either swift enforcement or a clear, public explanation of why not.
Columbia, WHDC leaders and the AG’s office all owe the community answers. If the funds were spent properly, show the paperwork. If they weren’t, do the work the public pays you to do. Otherwise we’ll be left with another example of charity money in New York being rerouted into politics, paychecks and PR — and of public servants posing for cameras while neighborhoods get shortchanged. Time to stop the handwringing and start opening files.
