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October 6, 2008
EMINENT DOMAINIA: The Big Apple Bites!
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Queen's Chronicle, Willets Pt. owners fear eminent domain threat
Mayor Bloomberg's plans for Willets Point do not include this business owner, as the city's attempts to find another location for the business have proved futile: |
“If we get thrown out through eminent domain, then who’s to say you’re not next?” asked Jack Bono, who now heads Bono Sawdust Supply Co., with his son, Jake. “This kind of thing is done in other countries, not here.”
The Bonos own one-quarter of an acre on 127th Place and rent another quarter acre nearby for their operation that specializes in turning sawdust into a sweeping compound used in the construction trade and for animal bedding used by local stables, race tracks and the circus. It is the only such business remaining in New York City, they said.
The business is located in the 60-acre Willets Point area of Corona and Flushing that the city wants to develop into a $3 billion mixed-use project. The plan would require all businesses there to leave.
The city has promised to try and find them other locations, but so far has failed to locate anything comparable to the Bono’s current site. “They showed us two storefronts and a huge area in another borough,” said Jake Bono. “Our life is here in Queens. Where are we going to move?”
NY Newsday, Babylon seeks eminent domain on Wyandanch site
Wyandanch's downtown revitalization plans don't include this small business owner:
One reluctant seller, Moo S. Kwon, didn't want to move his 6-year-old beauty supply store from its current location at 1567 Straight Path, a desirable spot in the heart of the business corridor. However, Kwon said he felt he didn't have a choice after receiving a letter from Town Attorney Paul J. Margiotta indicating that the town was prepared to seize his property without his consent.
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As a small-business owner, Kwon doesn't have the resources to fight Babylon in court if the government condemned his property."I have no choice," Kwon said. "What are we going to do?"
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Kwon agreed to sell the property, which is more than 11,000 square feet, to Babylon for $420,000. The town, however, did not compensate him for his business."That's unfair," Kwon said.
Posted by eric at October 6, 2008 5:33 AM