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March 6, 2011
Muddy waters at Willet: Lobbyist Richard Lipsky leading charge against redeveloping Willets' Point
Daily News
By Adam Lisberg
Richard Lipsky is against eminent domain for Willets Point and in favor of it for Atlantic Yards. What'$ the difference? Dollars from developer Bruce Ratner.
The first phase of Atlantic Yards alone required the state to condemn 15 privately owned properties.
Eminent domain allows government to seize a private owner's property to serve the greater public good — if you consider a basketball stadium or a shopping center to be a public good.
Lipsky said he's usually against it, but the Nets arena and its benefits for neighborhood kids make it worthwhile in Brooklyn.
"I don't have an absolute position on [eminent domain] but I do have a strong disposition against it," Lipsky said. "It takes a lot to push me in that direction."
He also said he only worked on Atlantic Yards' youth sports efforts programs, not its eminent domain work efforts.
Of course, Ratner could have hired him to work for Atlantic Yards just so the opponents couldn’t hire him to work against it.
"That's true," Lipsky acknowledged. "You'd have to ask them why they hired me."
Posted by steve at March 6, 2011 9:45 PM