Redbud II?

It’s been two-and-a-half years since Cornell “paved paradise and put up a parking lot” on University Ave. Flash forward to the present day and we are at a similar crossroads. Only this time, there’s a 270-day building moratorium before the fate of Sapsucker Woods is decided.

During the Redbud Woods debacle, environmentalists and activists found a clear adversary in Cornell. It was almost too perfect. Big Red Bureaucracy vs. heroic students. This time, Cornell has chosen to remain a silent third party in the ongoing debate between developer Rocco Lucente and Ithaca residents.

In a sense, Cornell’s silence is prudent. After all, inaction prevents students from chaining themselves to President Skorton’s desk. Lucente has wisely pledged 25 acres of Sapsucker Woods to Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology to counter the construction of his new housing development project, Briarwood II, thus providing the University with a material incentive to keep her Big Red Lips shut.

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