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The plan, which was approved by the City Council in December 2007, affects about 35 acres of West Harlem.

Located at 129th Street and Broadway since 1969, the Floridita Restaurant is worried the state may force them to shut down.

"They've told me in the past that they would relocate me within the footprint of the expansion plan, but they were never specific about where that would be," said restaurant owner Ramon Diaz.

He says he's heard nothing from Columbia since October.

Diaz has six more years left on his lease, but says in December he received a notice from the state that Columbia could terminate the lease at any time through eminent domain. Columbia Student Organizer Andrew Lyubarsky says that would not be fair.

"It's very important that Columbia make some sort of commitment to not terminate the lease early, except in the context of a mutually-agreeable relocation plan," said Lyubarsky.

Columbia says it will talk to Floridita about relocating down the road.

"It's premature to really talk about relocating Floridita, but when the time comes, as long as Floridita is a commercial tenant in good standing, they will initiate talks about where they may be moving the business," said Columbia University spokeswoman Victoria Benitez.

Diaz and his customers hope Floridita will not be moving far.

"It would be a huge loss," said regular customer Stalin Guilamo. "The neighborhood would lose some character as well, since this is such a part of the neighborhood."

The university says the rezoning plan will transform an under-utilized, formerly manufacturing area into a modern, open campus that will be inviting to the community and will also provide access to a new park along the Hudson River.

The plan is said to include a state-of-the-art mixed-use academic center, which will house more than 6.8 million square feet of space for teaching, research, underground parking, and support services.

University officials also say the plan will increase retail opportunities along Broadway and provide meeting spaces available to the community at large.