Columbia University and other private colleges should cough up and help foot the bill for the NYPD having to swarm the Ivy League campus and crackdown on pro-terror protests, Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday.
Hizzoner addressed the cost to Big Apple taxpayers after cops were finally called in to help oust a destructive mob that had illegally taken over Columbia’s Hamilton Hall academic building late Tuesday and to clear out an encampment on the school’s iconic lawn.
“We believe that they, too, should contribute to the cost,” the mayor told FOX5 when asked whether the Ivy League school should have to open its checkbook in the wake of the massive operation.
“One way to prevent the costs from escalating is to have a zero tolerance. As soon as the tents go up, it comes down. Do not allow this to continue to expand. That is what we saw at Columbia University and that is what we saw at CUNY as well.”
In dramatic scenes out of Columbia, cops were forced to position a ramp against the school’s historic building so scores of officers could enter through second-floor windows after rioters sealed themselves inside.
Meanwhile, over at the City College of New York campus in Harlem, cops were forced to endure violent scenes as they clashed with unruly protesters.
More than 280 anti-Israel demonstrators were cuffed at both Columbia and the City of New York campuses in the “massive” NYPD operation.
The mayor said the subsequent cost — including overtime for officers — was part of an ongoing conversation with private institutions, particularly Columbia, in the wake of the protests.
Meanwhile, Hizzoner praised Fordham University’s quick handling of its protests after the NYPD were called in Wednesday to clear out its short-lived anti-Israel encampment.
“I have to really commend Fordham University. I spoke with the president yesterday. She was very clear on not allowing this to escalate,” Adams said.
“As you saw, immediate action was taken and it was not a prolonged situation like we saw on other grounds.”
Adams’ call for the city’s elite colleges to foot the costs comes after a bipartisan group of Big Apple pols fumed Wednesday that Columbia should be on the hook after the school’s embattled president, Minouche Shafik, requested cops stay on campus through May 17 to prevent future unrest ahead of commencement.
“Columbia created this mess and Columbia – not New Yorkers – should pay to clean it up,” the nine council members, led by Queens Republican Joann Ariola, Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) and Queen Democrat Bob Holden wrote in a scathing letter to university officials.
“New York City has very real problems that must be prioritized,” the letter continued, adding, “Babysitting spoiled students, activist professors, and professional protestors on an Ivy League campus is not one of them.”
They added that if the university wants city-paid officers to man the campus they should contact the NYPD’s paid details unit, which specializes in providing security for private places.
“You certainly can afford it,” the lawmakers said, noting Columbia’s tuition costs of more than $68,000 a year and $13.6 billion in endowments.