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September 17, 2007
Big Man Off Campus
The NY Times
Op-Ed Contibutor, NY State Senator Bill Perkins
State Senator Perkins proves that taking land from little guys to give to the big guys is only absurd if you think about it:
We have an affordable housing crisis in New York City. And yet imagine what would happen if a publicly operated affordable housing agency got the go-ahead to seize a parcel of land on Columbia University’s campus to build apartments for low-income residents of Harlem.
Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But why? After all, eminent domain laws let government entities condemn private property for things that are a benefit to the public, like the construction of a highway or a water-treatment plant.
But what conventional opinion doesn’t find absurd is that Columbia University, a private entity, has contemplated invoking eminent domain to seize private property and expand its campus in West Harlem.
...
Perhaps the absurdity resides in the law itself, and how it is applied. Clearly we need to shift our thinking about the appropriate use of eminent domain. Unfortunately, we’ve become comfortable slanting the law in favor of the “big guy’s” interests over those of the “little guy.”
Posted by lumi at September 17, 2007 8:44 PM