No Land Grab

amNY
By Justin Rocket Silverman

Joy Chatel learned in 2004 that the city was planning to use eminent domain to take her 150-year-old Brooklyn house, possibly a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Little did she know then that a court settlement reached last week would not only let her keep her home, but would galvanize a citywide movement against the practice of seizing private property.

"I don't want to say that we beat City Hall," Chatel said through tears yesterday. "What we did was make City Hall see just what they were doing to us."

...

"With this settlement the city has shown it's always possible to do development without abusing eminent domain," said Daniel Goldstein, a member of Develop Don't Destroy and fierce opponent of the Atlantic Yards.

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