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November 30, 2009
EMINENT DOMAINIA: Goldstein v. ESDC
inversecondemnation.com, Unfrozen Caveman Judges "Frightened And Confused" By Blight
Remember Phil Hartman's classic Saturday Night Live routine, "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer" --
One hundred thousand years ago, a caveman was out hunting on the frozen wastes when he slipped and fell into a crevasse. In 1988, he was discovered by some scientists and thawed out. He then went to law school and became... Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.
We can't summarize the skit any better than wikipedia:
The running gag was that [Hartman] would speak in a highly articulate and smoothly self-assured manner to a jury or an audience about how things in the modern world supposedly "frighten and confuse" him. He would then list several things that confounded him about modern life or the natural world, such as: "When I see a solar eclipse, like the one I went to last year in Hawaii, I think 'Oh no! Is the moon eating the sun?' I don't know. Because I'm a caveman -- that's the way I think." This pronouncement would seem ironic, coming from someone who had, for example, just ended a brisk cell phone conversation, or indeed attended law school.
According to a 6-1 majority of the New York Court of Appeals in Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corp., No. 178 (Nov. 24, 2009), New York judges are similarly so "frightened and confused" about the meaning of the term "substandard and insanitary" in the state constitution that they are incapable of reviewing takings which purportedly remedy blight.
The Daily Record, Editorial, Call this ruling a flagrant foul
An appeals court in Albany ruled last week that the state can forcefully evict homeowners and businesses who have the misfortune of occupying the section of Brooklyn where an arena for the Nets is proposed to be built. In short, they are in the way.
The locale makes no difference; this is a total abuse of power by the state. Let the state buy the property without holding the hammer of condemnation. If there are unwilling sellers, offer them more money or make other plans.
...Eminent domain should be used to build highways and schools, not arenas for pro basketball teams.
The Lonely Conservative, So much for property rights in New York
Basically, the powers-that-be in New York can now label whatever property they want as blighted and hand it over to private developers. So much for property rights in New York.
Librarian's Muse, The 2009-2010 edition of the United States Government Manual
Almost every Brooklynite you talk to has a fairly strong opinion about the Atlantic Yards project. Many shudder to think about the traffic and congestion that might beset downtown Brooklyn after the mammoth project that includes an arena is up and running—and the Nets are over there, possibly losing games by the dozens (not to mention the displacement of many local residents). Others like the thought of the borough reclaiming its place as major-league in its own right, separate and apart from its flashier brother just to the west. In any event, the New York state Court of Appeals handed down its long-awaited ruling on the project November 24, holding it lawful for a state economic development agency to seize private land to build an arena.
New York Zoning and Municipal Law Blog, New York Court Of Appeals Upholds "Atlantic Yards" Condemnation
In a major decision, the New York Court of Appeals put a new gloss on the New York Eminent Domain Procedure Law (EDPL) allowing the condemnation by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) of the so called "Atlantic Yards" area of Brooklyn to proceed.
New Jersey Condemnation Law, NY Court of Appeals Deals Blow to Property Owners In Atlantic Yards Case
The Court also refused to interfere with what qualifies as blight, even though it recognized that the bar may now be set too low as to what constitutes “blight.” However, the Court held that any such limitation upon the sovereign power of eminent domain as it has come to be defined in the urban renewal context is a matter for the Legislature, not the courts. The Court identified the only situation where it could interfere with a legislative blight determination – where the physical conditions of an area are such that it would be “irrational and baseless” to call it substandard or insanitary, but held that those conditions did not exist in Atlantic Yards.
Posted by eric at November 30, 2009 11:51 AM