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July 20, 2007
EMINENT DOMAINIA!
TWOFER ON THE BIGGEST LANDOWNER IN THE FOOTPRINT OF COLUMBIA U'S EXPANSION PLAN
The Village Voice, Big in Yonkers
Columbia foe buys house organ, ponders playing it
Standing in the way of Columbia's plan is one Nick Sprayregen, real estate investor, king of the Tuck-It-Away storage empire, and newly minted newspaper owner. Sprayregen owns five warehouses in the Columbia zone. He hasn't wanted to sell them, certainly not with the school continuing to threaten their seizure through eminent domain.
The NY Sun, Storage Mogul Is an Obstacle to Columbia’s Expansion
The most formidable obstacle to Columbia University’s 17-acre expansion may not be those who live within the West Harlem project’s footprint, but a New Rochelle-based storage mogul.
The largest private landowner within the area targeted for the expansion, Nicholas Sprayregen, a developer, landlord, weekly newspaper publisher, and owner of Tuck-It-Away self-storage, has spent $500,000 so far on attorneys, a lobbyist, and land-use consultants in an attempt to compel the university to scale back its proposal.
A fierce opponent of Columbia’s proposed use of eminent domain, the lively father of four has money to spend and is emerging as a critical force in the West Harlem community’s opposition to the university’s plan.
[Photo: The owner of Tuck-It-Away self-storage, Nicholas Sprayregen, on the rooftop of his building on upper Broadway, where Columbia is planning its expansion. NY Sun]
FEDERAL EMINENT DOMAIN REFORM BILL INTRODUCED IN HOUSE
LibertyMatters.org, Lawmakers Plan Eminent Domain Reform
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Ca, rarely sides with Republicans on any issue, but last week she joined Rep. James Sensenbrenner R- WI, to introduce the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2007. The bill seeks to counter the effects of the disastrous Supreme Court's Kelo decision of 2005. The Act would withhold economic development funds from state and local governments that use eminent domain for private development. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a similar measure in 2005, but never made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Federal protections from eminent domain abuse are long overdue," said Bert Gall, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice.
Institute for Justice Press Release (PDF)
YOU FROM JOISEY?
NJEminentDomain.com, Lodi drops its eminent domain appeal
Abuse of eminent domain is a hot-button issue in the Garden State, where judges are drawing the line, the State advocate is calling for reform, and, in a surprise move, some local politicians are standing down.
The NY Times, Judge Stops Newark Redevelopment Project
A NJ judge determined that Newark's "blight" determination did not pass muster, citing campaign contributions detween developer and local pols:
A New Jersey judge effectively killed an ambitious downtown redevelopment project in Newark yesterday, ruling that the city’s decision to condemn 14 acres of property on behalf of a private developer was ill-conceived and wrong. The project, the Mulberry Street Redevelopment Project, a proposed collection of 2,000 market-rate apartments and stores in the shadow of the city’s new hockey arena, would have been the largest development initiative here in decades.
In her decision, Judge Simonelli mentioned the close links between the developers and the James administration, adding that large contributions had been made to the former mayor and the Municipal Council, whose approval was needed for the area’s condemnation.
In her decision, Judge Marie P. Simonelli of Superior Court said the administration of Mayor Sharpe James misused the state’s rules on condemnation when it declared 62 parcels “an area in need of redevelopment.” She said the row houses, mechanics’ shops and parking lots, while somewhat tattered, were not “blighted” and suggested that the decision to condemn the property was politically motivated.
NYC EDC JOB CREATION MIRACLE
Duffield St. Undergound, "Oooops" —The EDC
Demolition of the Duffield St. Abolitionist homes "is only one example" of how "the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has been busy spending taxpayer dollars destroying existing businesses as it develops new projects with dubious benefits." The EDC created just over a dozen jobs at the Red Hook cruiseship terminal, though 370 were promised.
Posted by lumi at July 20, 2007 8:16 AM