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October 27, 2006
Atlantic Yards Project Abuses Uses of Eminent Domain, Suit Says
NY Sun
By Joseph Goldstein
The Sun's article focuses on the actual complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. [DDDB posted the complaint on its web site.]
"This is a case about a conscious effort to circumvent community input and the lawful processes of open government; about the misuse of government's power to take property by eminent domain; and, ultimately, about a betrayal of public trust in service of the interests of a private developer," the legal complaint reads.
Later in the article, the reporter missed the point about last year's US Supreme Court Kelo ruling.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Matthew Brinkerhoff, said at a press conference yesterday, that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London could prove a setback for his case.
“That case did erode some of the rights we are interested in,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said. “Not withstanding Kelo, this remains unconstitutional.”
NoLandGrab: Regular readers of NLG will know that the Kelo case was a setback for private property seizures for private developments in general.
However, in more than one instance, the Justices' opinions provided guidance for the lower courts on where to draw the line between private-to-private transfers that are allowed (i.e. projects resulting from a city planning process with legislative oversight), and private projects entailing impermissible favoritism towards a private party and whose public benefits are merely "pretextual." In other words, the lawsuit uses Kelo "to its advantage," as pointed out yesterday by NY Observer reporter Matthew Schuerman.
For more on this point, check out yesterday's NY Law Journal article.
Posted by lumi at October 27, 2006 8:41 AM