No Land Grab

Betsy Gotbaum

Gotbaum supports Ratner's plans, but insists that she stands against the use of eminent domain (???). Since Ratner told her that eminent domain would not be used, and she believes him, she sees no conflict in her position. This type of runaround is not what New Yorkers expect from their Public Advocate — maybe there's a position open for Gotbaum on the NYC Chamber of Commerce where she can do something that doesn't require thinking or working hard.

Andrew Raseij

Rasiej opposes the Ratner proposal due to lack of transparency and lack of community input and he is on record stating his belief that eminent domain should never be used to enrich a private developer. He also has a plan for free wireless access in NYC, which would help NLGers post blog entries on the fly.

Norman Siegel

Siegel has been on the forefront of the fight against eminent domain abuse. He filed a friend of the court brief in the case of Kelo v. New London on behalf of Develop Don't Destoy Brooklyn and groups fighting to keep their property in West Harlem and continues to advocate on their behalf.

It has dawned on us here at NoLandGrab that Norman Siegel has effectively been acting as a Public Advocate while Gotbaum has been MIA during her four-year term. Through his private practice, Siegel has been working with families of 9-11, protecting property owners threatened by eminent domain, advocating for the non-violent protesters arrested during the RNC convention week, and representing an individual who unveiled corruption at the MTA. Maybe we should just give him the job.