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October 10, 2009
New York Among Worst On Property Rights
The Journal News
By Phil Reisman
It’s well documented that the power of eminent domain has been greatly abused by state and local governments in recent years.
No longer employed merely as a tool to make way for roads, bridges, hospitals and other traditional public-use projects, the practice of taking private property has alarmingly morphed into something morally reprehensible and corrupt. All over the country homes and businesses have been seized to make way for private development under the pretense that the wholesale replacement of neighborhoods with large shopping centers and office parks fits under the rubric of promoting the public welfare.
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A big court date is looming on the eminent domain front New York’s Court of Appeals-the state’s highest court-will hear a case in Albany on Wednesday, October 14, at 2 p.m. that will be closely watched. The case-Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corp.-challenges New York’s use of eminent domain to hand privately owned businesses and homes in Brooklyn over to private developer Forest City Ratner as part of the Atlantic Yards development.
The Goldstein case will be the first time New York’s highest court will consider limits on the use of eminent domain since the infamous 2005 Kelo v. City of New London case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the case resulted in victory for the developer and the city, it sparked a national outcry against the unfairness of taking private property for private gain.
Posted by steve at October 10, 2009 5:59 AM