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January 14, 2007

COURT-OK'D THEFT

NY Post
BART DIDDEN

THE U.S. Supreme Court may have ruled that private property could be taken for public benefits like jobs or taxes, but what about for outright extortion? Can my private property be taken because I refused to pay off a private developer who wanted land I owned and planned to develop? As remarkable as it sounds, two federal courts in New York already allowed what amounts to outright eminent-domain extortion.

In 2003, a developer approached my business partner and me, saying we could either pay him $800,000 or give him a 50 percent interest in a business we were about to develop, or he would cause the Village of Port Chester to take our property through eminent domain.

Outraged, we refused.

The very next day, Port Chester condemned our property.

article

NoLandGrab: Although it's great that the Post is taking the Port Chester eminent domain case seriously, we have to wonder why they LOVE eminent domain in Brooklyn...

Posted by amy at January 14, 2007 1:11 PM