New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has threatened to file a lawsuit against Columbia University to compel the school to open its gates to the public.
The university closed and locked the gates about three years ago because of the pro-Hamas protests on campus, according to The New York Post.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is threatening to sue Columbia University to open their campus gates — which have been locked for three years since the anti-Israel campus protests of 2023.
The Mamdani administration warned it’ll take “prompt” legal action if College Walk — a once bustling footpath on West 116th Street that allows pedestrians to cut across the school’s Morningside Heights campus — isn’t reopened immediately, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
“When it comes to the specifics of this lawsuit, I want to just lay out very clearly that what we stated is that unlike the past administration, we do support the reopening of the walkway,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Thursday.
The city previously argued that College Walk did not require pedestrian access under Mamdani’s predecessor Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
Fuming neighborhood residents sued the school and the city in January 2025, arguing that the stretch of quad space was intended to remain public after the Big Apple sold it to the private Ivy League institution decades ago.
Mamdani said the city reached an agreement with the plaintiffs, “which makes clear what the original purpose was of College Walk, as well as commits us to taking prompt legal action if Columbia does not immediately reopen the walkway.”
Mamdani has a crime problem, a cop shortage and a city full of people who can't afford rent.
— Kentucky Girl (@Kentuckygirl1) October 5, 2026
So what's he threatening to sue over?
Columbia's campus gates.
NO. I'm not joking.
Columbia locked College Walk after the anti-Israel encampment in 2024.
Students and staff get in… pic.twitter.com/gplRX9Jie5
The school shut its Morningside Heights gates to the public five days after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel in which it killed over 1,000 people.
Hundreds of protesters and counterprotesters gathered on the campus shortly after the attack. Interim Provost Dennis A. Mitchell said the pro-Hamas agitators made “substantial efforts” to draw in people who were not affiliated with the school “in a manner that risks creating an unsafe environment for our community.”
Columbia was one of several universities that came under fire for not doing enough to protect Jewish students and faculty members amid violence and threats coming from the pro-Hamas elements on campus.
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it's spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there's nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.
Help us continue to shine a light on the socialist takeover by joining Townhall VIP. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.