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October 27, 2006
Ratner plan hit with suit
Eviction targets seek to stop Yards
NY Daily News
By Elizabeth Hays and John Marzulli, with Lisa Colangelo
The plaintiffs will have to overcome a landmark decision last year by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that governments have the right to seize private property for public use.
But the suit contends the Atlantic Yards project is being driven by the personal "needs, motives and vision" of the developer, and not the public good.
"The exercise of eminent domain to seize plaintiffs' property in this case is not only unconstitutional, it is unnecessary," the complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court argues. "Development in this section of Brooklyn can be done successfully and profitably without taking a single piece of privately owned land."
City Councilwoman Letitia James (D, WFP-Prospect Heights) ridiculed the state's argument that the area is blighted, noting that condos in the area have sold for more than $1 million recently.
"This is nothing more than the biggest land grab in the history of New York City," she said.
Oh, and the Mayor called the reasons cited by people who want to stop the Atlantic Yards project as being "either misguided, myopic or selfish." Take your pick.
Posted by lumi at October 27, 2006 11:50 AM