The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

Lobbying client

Columbia University is a major Ivy League research university founded in 1754, operating its historic Morningside Heights campus and a newer Manhattanville campus in West Harlem, where a multi-decade expansion has generated community opposition over housing displacement, land use approvals, and commitments from a 2009 Community Benefits Agreement. With 36 filings since 2024, it lobbied primarily Council Member Shaun Abreu, whose district encompasses both campuses, through Bolton-St. Johns and Kasirer LLC on real estate, zoning, community relations, and higher education issues.

Council members lobbied
6
Filings (since 2024)
36
Lobbying compensation (since 2024)
$498,059
Industry (per city contracts)
Professional Services
City contracts (active)
$34,639,474 · 12 contracts
Awarded all-time
$68,258,582 · 64 since 2009, incl. expired
Paid to date
$57,901,672
Won without a fresh bid
91% of contract value · $61,784,013 · 16 contracts
Discretionary funding (FY2009-FY2027)
$240,296 · 17 awards
Funding history
Funded 13 years (FY2009–FY2026); not in FY2027
Top officer pay (FY2023)
$7,473,044 · Lawrence Gerald Lenke, Professor Of Surgery
Based in
New York, NY

Lobbied these council members

Represented by lobbyist firms

Holds contracts at

Funded by these agencies

What they lobbied on

subjects from their filings

City contracts

Registered city contracts, largest first by current contract value (not amount spent): running now, then registered to start later, then ended. Totals count every registered contract. Each line shows its Checkbook contract ID. The tag on each row is how it was awarded (“no-bid” = non-competitive).

Largest payments, by purpose

The organization's largest individual city payments (roughly $25,000 and up), grouped by purpose, to show what recent money was for. This is NOT a total — smaller payments aren't listed; see “Paid to date” above for the complete amount paid against its contracts. Fiscal years 2020 and later.

Discretionary funding received

City Council discretionary (member-item) awards, largest first. Covers FY2009-FY2027.

Funded by these council members

City Council members who steered discretionary (member-item) money to this organization, largest first (FY2020 and later, where the sponsoring member is disclosed). Sitting members link to their page.

Officer & key-staff pay

Reportable compensation from this organization's IRS Form 990 (Part VII), latest available filing (FY2023). Includes pay from related organizations where reported; an annual figure, not a running total. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

Officer pay over time

Total officer pay changed +13% from FY2020 to FY2023. Top-officer reportable compensation by year (org-paid only), with each year's share of total revenue. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer 990 filings.

Where their influence converges

Outside interests connected to this official through more than one independent channel — drawn straight from the records the rest of the site already shows. “Lobbied them” = a lobbying filing that named the member. “Outside spending” = an independent-expenditure committee the interest funds spent in

Federal awards

Federal awards made directly to this organization in fiscal years 2023 through 2026. Each amount is what the federal government has OBLIGATED on that award as recorded on USAspending.gov as of 2026-08-31 — money committed, not money paid out. These are prime awards only: federal money this

Sources