« In Case of 421-a Reform, Good Governance Is In Eye of Beholder |
Main
| PHOTO IRONY: THE STREET IS OUR BRUCE'S STADIUM »
August 30, 2007
EMINENT DOMAINIA
New Yorkers have seemed immune to the national outrage over the abuse of eminent domain for private developers, but we're sensing a change. Perhaps it has to do with an increase in the City's and State's appetite for using eminent domain to take land for politically connected private developers, or maybe because the local media are finally devoting more coverage to the issue. One thing is certain — the issue isn't going away as the protracted battles continue to heat up.
Yesterday's amNY published a letter in response to their extensive coverage of the fight to save the Duffield St. Abolitionist homes, and an article about the possible use of eminent domain in Coney Island:
Re "Last Stop for Slave History" (Aug. 27): Unfortunately, I am not surprised to hear that once again, the city is using eminent domain to destroy more of our rapidly vanishing history. Not surprised, but very disgusted. All for what? Another faceless, homogenized strip of Starbucks, Duane Reades and unaffordable condos? Even if the Underground Railroad connection can't be proven, these are beautiful, historic homes in their own right, more than 150 years old. Give Bloomberg and Co. another few years, and this great city will be indistinguishable from virtually every other suburb in this country, and to me, that is completely unacceptable. People are losing their homes, neighborhoods are being destroyed and we are being robbed of our history. Fellow New Yorkers — some outrage?
— Deirdre MacNamara, Brooklyn
Eminent domain in Coney Island?
Though it's unlikely, NYC could use the threat of the use of eminent domain to force developer Joseph Sitt to come up with a plan for Coney Island that conforms more closely with the City's vision for redevelopment.
As city officials play hardball with a developer over the future of Coney Island's amusement zone, rumblings of a land takeover by the Bloomberg administration through eminent domain have surfaced in published reports.
But that scenario remains a long shot, say eminent domain experts.
"It is a possibility, but I would say it's a remote possibility," said William Ward, a New Jersey attorney who has worked for the government and in the private sector, serving clients on both sides of eminent domain cases.
What we found most interesting about the Coney Island article is that it ranked #1 among yesterday's most popular stories online, outpacing the good fortune of the late "Queen of Mean's" pooch.
Posted by lumi at August 30, 2007 8:41 AM