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December 16, 2005
Another Step for Downtown Brooklyn Project
The NY Times
by Nick Confessore
Yesterday, Forest City Ratner announed plans to demolish six buildings they recently purchased in the footprint of the Atlantic Yards plan.
Demolition of the buildings was recommended by LZA Technology, an engineering firm the developer hired to inspect newly acquired properties on the Atlantic Yards site, after a four-month study revealed severe structural damage to the six buildings.
Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, a coalition that opposes the Atlantic Yards project, said the demolition plans were "a scare tactic that won't work, and we believe it is illegal."
NY1, News Brief, "Six Buildings To Be Demolished As Part Of Atlantic Yards Project"
TimesRatnerReport covers the question of who bears responsibility for the run-down conditions.
NoLandGrab: This move by Ratner really muddies the waters.
The community and Department of Buildings only have the word of an engineering firm hired by Ratner that these buildings must be razed.
Since the project hasn't even been approved yet, the move to demolish buildings, some of which were inhabited until very recently, might be considered a false start on the state-sponsored project.
This move also leads to a conundrum:
* Razing run-down properties could be clearing blight and may indicate that the area is not in need of large-scale blight removal.
* On the other hand, leaving vacant lots in the wake might shore up Ratner's legal justification that the neighborhood is blighted.
The vague analysis of this scenario underscores the need for a clearer definition of "blight" in any future eminent domain reform.
Posted by lumi at December 16, 2005 9:54 AM