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November 10, 2009
EMINENT DOMAINIA
NEW LONDON: SHOCKER!
The City of New London went to the mat to seize the homes of residents of the modest waterfront neighborhood of Fort Trumbull, ultimately winning a 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court to allow taking of private property for economic development purposes. The houses were razed, but the redevelopment of the neighborhood, which was meant to serve the new headquarters built by Pfizer, never occurred.
Yesterday, in a shocker to officials of New London, the company in the "company town" announced it was leaving. The Hartford Courant is reporting that Pfizer will try to sell or lease the waterfront campus, but that redevelopment of the adjacent neighborhood of Ft. Trumbull "remains a dream." While one swath of waterfront property is destined to be totally unproductive in the near future, the Pfizer campus will likely remain vacant during these difficult economic times.
Some would say that city leaders are getting what they deserve, by staking their city's future on one company, while turning their backs on long-time residents. Whether you believe in karmic repercussions of eminent domain abuse, the latest development is a cautionary tale, one that may be sadly repeated, perhaps even now, in our own backyard.
The Hartford Courant, Pfizer Inc. Plans To Vacate Its R & D Center In New London
WEST HARLEM: COLUMBIA DEMO
Back in our own eminent domain-abusing metropolis, Queens Crap is reporting that demolitions for the Columbia University expansion project are "in full swing," including a building on the National Register of Historic Places, the facade of which will be moved and preserved. Sadly, Columbia, like Bruce Ratner in Brooklyn, will take down every building it can, thus making the determination of blight a self-fulfilling prophecy, and ensuring the neighborhood will remain so blighted for years to come.
Queens Crap, There goes the neighborhood...literally!
Posted by lumi at November 10, 2009 5:14 AM