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January 19, 2010
State appeals anti-eminent domain ruling
After a court ruling declared the use of eminent domain illegal for Columbia's Manhattanville campus, the Empire State Development Corporation is formally appealing the decision.
Columbia Spectator
by Kim Kirschenbaum
Those "rabid obstructionists" at the Empire State Development Corporation are using the legal system to try to stop the courts from stopping them from abusing eminent domain.
The Empire State Development Corporation is officially going forward with its appeal in favor of eminent domain in Manhattanville after losing in a surprise court decision in December.
On Jan. 8, ESDC—the state body that approved the use of eminent domain for Columbia’s Manhattanville expansion project in December 2008—formally appealed the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division’s decision last month that ruled that such use is illegal.
The Appellate Division ruling declared eminent domain—the process by which the state can seize private property for “public use” in exchange for market-rate compensation—illegal in the 17-acre expansion zone, dealing a major setback to the University’s campus development plans. The ruling argued that the expansion of an elite private university does not constitute a public use, and condemned alleged “collusion” between Columbia and ESDC in determining blight in the area.
Posted by eric at January 19, 2010 1:49 PM