Self-Storage King Takes a Moment to Savor His Victory Over Columbia.

Outside, in the sharp wintry light that makes you squint when the No. 1 train pops out of the tunnel past 122nd Street, the banners were still flying high. Among them was the one that reads, ''Stop Columbia! We Won't Be Pushed Out!'' Inside, in the softer, dimmer light of an office that has 10 lights in the ceiling but no windows, Nicholas Sprayregen was working his way through an in-box suddenly filled with e-mail messages from people he did not know. ''Thank you for standing up and fighting to keep the American dream alive,'' one wrote. Another said, ''It's like David versus Goliath, and you're David.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]