December 24, 2008
2008: Year in Review
The Campaign for Community-Based Planning posted the 2008 "the good," "the bad," and "the ongoing." Bruce Ratner's five-year-old Atlantic Yards megaproject threat made the top of the ongoing-and-going-and-going list, with other eminent domain abuses following close behind:
The Ongoing
Atlantic Yards: 2008 marked the fifth year since the Atlantic Yards project was announced. The spring and summer were busy times: local organizations held a rally opposing the project, and the Municipal Art Society imagined a partial buildout of the site as Atlantic Lots. In response, developer Bruce Ratner manufactured a pro-Atlantic Yards rally. By August, the footprint was a mess, the stadium opening date was pushed back again, and nine property owners were challenging the state’s proposed use of eminent domain in State Supreme Court. In September, the State Supreme Court rejected the ESDC’s motion to throw out the case, which will now be heard in spring 2009. Most recently, Ratner stopped all work at the site, citing the ongoing lawsuit and the financial meltdown, and local organizations called for an audit of public funding spent on the development.
Eminent Domain: A major issue in 2008, eminent domain came up regarding Atlantic Yards, Columbia University’s expansion into Manhattanville, and in the City’s redevelopment of Willets Point. In September, the Community-Based Planning Task Force testified for state senators who are examining eminent domain policy at the state level.
Posted by lumi at 5:07 AM
December 21, 2008
As Columbia plan gets approved, a fight over blight and eminent domain emerges
Atlantic Yards Report looks at the Columbia plan's approval, and an article in the Weekly Standard by Jonathan V. Last:
Last thinks, as did AY opponents in their case, that the Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London case may have an impact on the Columbia case. No, Sprayregen won't be able to establish that the ESDC was engaged in “impermissible favoritism” toward Columbia, given that such a designation is much more likely in a trial court. (That's why the Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn-organized lawsuit was first filed in federal court.)Last thinks Sprayregen can argue that Columbia’s plan, unlike that endorsed in Kelo, is not “comprehensive” because Columbia has not made firm plans for the site. I'm not so sure; I suspect that the state will argue that the framework, at least, is comprehensive, and courts will defer to that.
And while courts have readily agreed to included non-blighted property to create contiguous sites, writes Last:
the Court has not been confronted with a case in which the neighborhood blight was directly caused by the party seeking the benefit of eminent domain.
Posted by amy at 11:10 AM
December 18, 2008
M'ville Expansion Clears Last Major Hurdle, State Approves Eminent Domain
Columbia Spectator
by Kim Kirschenbaum & Maggie Astor
Denied their own holiday cheer, the Empire State Development Corporation has placed large lumps of coal in the stockings of Manhattanville property owners in the path of Columbia University.
Making room for Columbia's Manhattanville campus expansion, the Empire State Development Corporation unanimously voted to invoke eminent domain on private commercial properties in the project area.
The state's decision on Thursday, will allow the state to seize land from two holdouts who have not struck property deals with the University. In exchange, the landowners--Nick Sprayregen, the owner of Tuck-It-Away Storage, and the Singh family, which operates two gas stations in Manhattanville--will receive market rate compensation.
Through the ESDC's invocation of eminent domain, the state will take over these commercial properties and then transfer ownership to Columbia, with an understanding that the land can be put to better civil use by the University. Columbia has said it needs control of all the land in its development site in order to build the campus expansion according to the plans approved by the New York City Council last year.
...Though the ESDC has voted in favor of eminent domain, the battle may still be far from over. Sprayregen said that he and his lawyer "have already begun our preparations for the next step, which will be to file our petition contesting the findings of eminent domain." He added later, "I will have no choice but protect the interests of my family to the very best of my ability. I am cautiously optimistic that we will prevail in the courts."
Posted by eric at 2:52 PM
December 15, 2008
Bansal, attorney for ESDC in Atlantic Yards case, is on Obama's short list for Solicitor General, the "Tenth Justice"
Atlantic Yards Report
Now that President-elect Barack Obama has appointed New Yorkers Shaun Donovan and Adolfo Carrion (much more controversially) to become, respectively, secretary of the department of Housing and Urban Development and head of the new White House Office of Urban Policy, the latter two might offer support to the policies and project of the Bloomberg administration, including Atlantic Yards.
A third New Yorker is also up for a key job with Obama and, while the position almost surely would have nothing to do with AY, she's had a close and controversial relationship the legal battles over the project.
On the president-elect's short list for Solicitor General, who has primary and mostly independent responsibility for presenting the Government's case to the Supreme Court, is Preeta Bansal, a former New York State Solicitor General (supervising 40-50 appellate submissions per week), a member of his transition team, and the lead attorney representing the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in appeals court.
Norman Oder examines Bansal's arguments in the federal appeal of the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case and finds some questionable assertions, which may (or may not, but still may) be cause for concern.
Posted by lumi at 5:54 AM
December 8, 2008
The flexing of 'domain' power
the ticker [Baruch College]
by Ilda Rastoder
Fast-forward to the 21st century and the Supreme Court revisits the public use debate in the case of Kelo v New London in 2005, where the state used eminent domain "for the purposes of economic development."
The court ruled the use of eminent domain constitutional for private economic development, broadening the public use requirement, slightly altering its previous conservative position. Justice Stevens stated that a narrow definition of public use has "steadily eroded over time" and is "impractical given the diverse and always evolving needs of society." After being tested by the Berman, Midkiff and Kelo cases, eminent domain has given the green light to private developers such as Bruce Ratner and Columbia University to pursue their "public" expansion projects.
NoLandGrab: And, man oh man, does society ever need a new billion-dollar basketball arena.
Posted by eric at 1:27 PM
December 5, 2008
On Dean Street, a slide show shows blight
Atlantic Yards Report ran the slideshow we compiled of photos by Tracy Collins, showing how developers can create blight in the name of "blight removal," thus fulfilling predictions made by Norman Oder and others.
NoLandGrab: Sadly, this is typical of eminent domain-abusing large-scale megaprojects.
Posted by lumi at 5:27 AM
Will It Come? What the Bloomberg Administration Wills at Willets Point
Noticing New York blogger Michael D. D. White is a curious mix of lawyer and urban planner with expertise in the public and private sector.
Today White posted a four-part series on Willets Point, which like Atlantic Yards, is a case study of the coercive use of eminent domain to clear way for a Xanadu-like megaproject, oops... we mean "the next great neighborhood." White explores the decision making and environmental review process, the effect of Taxpayer Field (aka Citifield), the benefit to the developer of upzoning, the story behind jobs, and the politics of "affordable housing" (including our foresight on ACORN's conversion).
For those of you trying to get caught up on the politics and planning behind Willets Point, this is a must read that contains information and analysis that you'll never find in the mainstream media.
Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV
Posted by lumi at 4:51 AM
November 30, 2008
Eminent Domain abuse is nothing more than theft
Juniper Park Civic Association
In New York City, under the Bloomberg administration, the evil aspect of eminent domain is thrusting itself into every neighborhood in the City from Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn to Sunnyside Yards and the proposed Willets Point Project in Queens. And let us not forget Manhattan where New York State forced a man to sell a corner that his family owned for more than 100 years. And, what went up - a courthouse, a school? Nope, the new New York Times Building. This was an instant case; where the original owner’s rights, all the investments, and the expectation that the original owner’s children would inherit, all disappeared.I believe that most knowledgeable people would agree that once the shroud of eminent domain cast its shadow over any neighborhood the concept of fair market value or just compensation is a fraud. The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, which includes building a new stadium for the New Jersey Nets basketball team, is an example of theft.
Posted by amy at 8:24 AM
November 28, 2008
Eminent domain cloud darkens Bay Ridge neighborhood
NY Daily News
by Jotham Sederstrom
The poster project for eminent domain abuse, Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards, finds its way into this story about a more nuanced dispute over best public use in another section of Brooklyn.
A plan to build a public school in Bay Ridge has drawn the ire of several Fourth Ave. property owners whose land could be seized under eminent domain, officials said. The move to clear land for the 480-seat school would mark the first time the School Construction Authority has had to resort to the controversial move of seizing private land for a government project.
"We're still in negotiations, but we also are prepared to initiate eminent domain proceedings so we don't lose time," said spokeswoman Margie Feinberg, who could not recall another instance of land seizure being used for a school project.
The possibility of eminent domain - which is typically used for projects that would benefit the public - has put plans for a grocery store and medical center on hold for the swath of Fourth Ave. between 88th and 89th Sts.
"There's no question that a school is a quintessential public use," said attorney Matthew Brinckerhoff, who has represented residents threatened by the use of eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards project in Prospect Heights.
"Having said that, as a matter of good policy, [the School Construction Authority] should target a spot that doesn't already have another public purpose in mind."
Posted by eric at 9:54 AM
November 25, 2008
Eminent domain case speeded up, might be heard in January
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder reports on a timetable shift in the state eminent domain case that might explain a recent comment by Nets CEO Brett Yormark:
Well, the Atlantic Yards state eminent domain case will be heard on a faster track than first envisioned. On September 29, I predicted that final briefs would be due in late February, with a hearing sometime after that. That implied a decision no sooner than May or June.
The state appellate court, however, on its own accord changed the schedule, with the nine petitioners required to file their brief by this Friday, November 28. That means that the defendant Empire State Development Corporation has to respond by December 19 and that the petitioners' reply brief is due December 29.
Decision by March?
While no hearing has yet been scheduled, the timetable leaves open the possibility of a January hearing. And while a decision might come by March, that doesn't mean that Atlantic Yards backers would "get through litigation, some time in March," as New Jersey Nets CEO Brett Yormark said last week.
The losing side--most likely the petitioners, because the case is a long shot--would inevitably file an appeal, which could require several more months. And other litigation may persist or arise.
Posted by lumi at 5:41 AM
November 14, 2008
Blight's hard to find: why Mike Bloomberg could never work for AKRF
Atlantic Yards Report
Mayor Mike Bloomberg has started backing away from claims that Willets Point is blighted. “To take an area which, it’s not fair to say it’s blighted,” he told NY1, as quoted in Crain's and cited by DDDB. “It’s seen its better days is a fair way to phrase it.”
Well, Willets Point is pretty rough--unpaved, no sewers, remember--though the city should take the lion's share of the blame.
But it's curious how unpaved Willets Point has "seen its better days" but a small but well-kept house (the fifth one in) in the Atlantic Yards footprint drawn by Forest City Ratner is, according to consultant AKRF's report for the Empire State Development Corporation, blighted because it doesn't fulfill 60% of allowable development rights.
NoLandGrab: We wonder if Mayor Bloomberg would testify on the behalf of any remaining property owners, if they try to make their case that their property isn't blighted.
Posted by lumi at 5:47 AM
November 13, 2008
EMINENT DOMAINIA: The Big Apple Bites!
Too many Willets Point stories for us to list them all, but here's a sampling.
Crain's NY Business, Deal struck on Willets Point redevelopment
Mr. Monserrate also was satisfied that the city would not abuse eminent domain to condemn land in the project footprint.
...The agreement is a blow to Willets Point landowners who have yet to agree on a sale price with the city. The Willets Point Industry & Realty Association, a group of the 10 largest land and business owners in Willets Point, Queens, released a statement that said many substantial businesses on the site have not begun or concluded negotiations. "We feel the announcement today on agreements reached at Willets Point are premature," the group said.
While the city maintains that it has been fair with its offers and relocation assistance, and hopes not to use eminent domain, the mayor said, "Having that threat there gets everybody focused."
NoLandGrab: Sure, Councilman Monserrate, eminent domain won't be abused.
Crain's NY Business, Greg David: Willets Pt. another Bloomberg victory
NY Post, WILLETS POINT SHAKEDOWN
Outgoing City Councilman Hiram Monserrate and some particularly dubious allies have succeeded in squeezing City Hall for a "community benefit" agreement requiring a vast tract of low-income housing to be included in whatever ultimately rises at Willets Point.
"Community benefit," of course, is a euphemism for "legal shakedown."
NY Daily News, Willets Point deal set for Council OK
One of the balking owners, Jake Bono, vowed to take his fight to court.
"What's going on here is a giant land grab," he said. "The mayor and the City Council ain't going to be the ones to dictate me off my land. It's going to be a guy in a little black robe and a wooden hammer."
Gothamist, Monserrate Paves the Way for Willets Point Plan's Passage
Not all of Monserrate’s constituents were happy with his announcement—some local business owners painted over his name on his campaign bus.
Queens Tribune, Opponents Flip On Willets Point Plan
Not everyone is finding reason to celebrate.
Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) spent all day cloistered inside City Hall, only receiving word of the deal three hours after it was announced. He may have been the last to know, but it changed little.
“I’m still opposed. It still doesn’t address the main issue, which is eminent domain,” he said. “Let’s spend a couple hundred million dollars to buy out property and take the rest. Where’s the American dream in that?”
WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, Boom Town
The City Council is expected to approve the redevelopment of Willets Point today. Carlos Canal, owner of Flushing Towing, explains why he sold his property, while Jake Bono of Bono Sawdust Supply opposes the plan.
Then, WNYC's Matthew Shuerman on why the city is moving ahead with the project and the status of Atlantic Yards and other developments.
Posted by eric at 7:09 PM
Willets Point Makeover Has Locals Crying Foul
Small Business Owners Say City Councilman Made Sweetheart Deal With Mayor And Then Sold Them All Out
WCBS-TV
Willets Point, Queens is about to get a complete overhaul.
But a group claiming to represent 250 small businesses says the city councilman who traded affordable housing in exchange for the overhaul sold them out in the process.
...The Willets Point scrap metal/chop shop/auto body area is in the shadow of the new ballpark the Mets are building. And it's no coincidence that after decades of neglect, businesses and apartments will suddenly be built there. But the Willets Point group said the trade off Monserrate negotiated in getting 35 percent of the 5,500 homes for affordable housing does not help them. And the $3 million these 250 small businesses are being offered to divide among themselves in exchange for getting out --- they say is an insult.
Posted by eric at 2:51 PM
City Council Caves, Supports Willets Point Eminent Domain
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
DDDB runs down the selling out of Willets Point property owners.
The City Council and Bloomberg administration have reached agreement to approve the Willets Point rezoning plan which is dependent on the threat, use, and abuse of eminent domain.
Led by councilman Hiram Monserrate, a majority of councilmembers had said they would oppose the rezoning unless there was an improved "affordable" housing plan and eminent domain was taken off the table. Crains quoted Monserrate in September:
“I look forward to finally having an open discussion and solution on the issues that the administration has so far not resolved—guaranteed affordable housing, fair-market compensation and relocation plans, traffic mitigation plans and a commitment to take eminent domain off the table," Mr. Monserrate said in a statement.
(Emphasis added)But on the day before the Council's vote on the project, Monserrate, Speaker Quinn, ACORN's Bertha Lewis and Mayor Mike Bloomberg (according the Times "an improbable cast of allies," even though the selling out came like clockwork) announced an affordable housing deal and that the "rezoning" of Willets Point—including the right for the City to threaten and use eminent domain—would pass in a planned Thursday vote.
No mention was made about taking eminent domain off the table. It is still there.
Posted by eric at 2:35 PM
Willets Point Project Foes Reach Deal With the City
The New York Times
by Fernanda Santos
Two of the leading opponents of the Willets Point redevelopment project in Queens came out in favor of the plan on Wednesday, after they reached a critical deal with the city over the number of homes for low-income families that will be built at the site.
The agreement calls for more than 800 homes for families earning less than $38,400 a year and essentially paves the way for the project’s approval by the City Council on Thursday. The agreement is a major political victory for one of the opponents, Councilman Hiram Monserrate, and for the Bloomberg administration, which spent considerable time and money in recent weeks to arrange support for the plan.
“This is a project for the people,” said Councilman Monserrate, who represents a district that includes Willets Point, a 62-acre expanse of auto body shops, junkyards and manufacturers on unpaved roads near Shea Stadium. “Everybody wins,” he said.
...The agreement was announced on Wednesday at a news conference at City Hall that brought together what days ago would have been an improbable cast of allies.
On hand were Mr. Monserrate and Bertha Lewis, chief organizer of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, which Mr. Monserrate had enlisted in opposing the project’s housing levels and the city’s plan to take over privately owned property by eminent domain. At their side were Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the city’s deputy mayor for economic development, Robert C. Lieber, who worked late into the night on Tuesday to arrange the deal.
NoLandGrab: "Everybody wins?" Not quite. Despite Councilman Monserrate's one-time insistence that the City not use eminent domain, many Willets Point property owners haven't even begun negotiations with the City. With the project approved by the City Council, those property owners will have zero leverage when negotiating the sale of their properties, and if they don't want to sell, then what? Yup, eminent domain seizures.
As for Acorn's role, bringing them in to help oppose eminent domain is — based on their role with Atlantic Yards — a bit like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.
Posted by eric at 10:09 AM
November 8, 2008
Willets Point down to the wire
Crain's
Daniel Massey
With less than a week remaining before the City Council votes on the contentious Willets Point redevelopment project, the Bloomberg administration has made some progress on buying up land at the Queens site. But it’s still unclear if the city has the votes it needs to see the measure pass. To prevail, it may have to strike additional deals on land and one on affordable housing.
...
A majority of Council members have vowed to reject the proposal Thursday over concerns about use of eminent domain and lack of affordable housing. City officials have intensified efforts in recent weeks to tilt the members’ opinions in favor of the plan.Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg met personally with each borough’s Council delegation to press his case. The mayor and his staff also met with some Council members individually. Opponents of the project say the delegation meetings were unprecedented and indicate the mayor is worried he doesn’t have the votes to get the project passed.
“That’s never been done before,” said a Willets Point Realty and Industry Association spokeswoman. “In his seven years, the mayor never once did it, not on congestion pricing, not on term limits. If they had the votes, they wouldn’t have dragged him out.”
Posted by amy at 7:45 AM
November 5, 2008
Eminent domain question approved
AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment limiting use of eminent domain and rejected giving state lawmakers more authority over regulating sales and use taxes.
Voters approved Question 2, a constitutional amendment that restricts use of eminent domain.
The ballot question passed once already, in 2006, with strong voter support after being put on the ballot by those seeking reform to the eminent domain process.
The initiative would make it illegal for state and local governments to force property owners to sell land for use in private projects. Such seizures for public works would remain legal, but they would face new hurdles.
NoLandGrab: Nevada's constitution requires that an amendment pass in two consecutive elections in order to become law; this amendment previously carried in 2006.
Posted by eric at 11:06 AM
November 3, 2008
Still Looking for a Chance to Vote on Eminent Domain Abuse
Noticing New York
When polls show that 95% of Americans agree that eminent domain should not be used for transfer of private property to another private owner, why have politicians left this hot-button issue on the table? Michael D. D. White calls some state senate campaigns to see what they're saying.
Posted by lumi at 5:17 AM
October 29, 2008
MAS to Hold CLE Course on Eminent Domain
This news about a legal ed course on eminent domain comes to us via, The Campaign for Community-Based Planning:
For the lawyers out there: on Monday, November 3 at 8:30 am, the Municipal Art Society is holding a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) course, titled “Public Use After Kelo: The Continuing Debate Over 5th Amendment Takings Jurisprudence.”
This course will discuss the evolution of the public use clause of the 5th Amendment, tracing its evolution up through the Supreme Court’s now famous 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London. Panelists include Matthew Brickerhoff, who argued for the plantiffs in Goldstein vs. Pataki, the eminent domain case dealing with the Altantic Yards development.
The panel will revisit Kelo, as well as the implications of Justice Stevens’ reminder that “nothing in [the Court’s] opinion precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power.” Panelists will discuss legislative responses to the Supreme Court’s ruling, as well as recent public use litigation in state and lower federal courts. The program will conclude with a discussion of what changes, if any, should be made to New York’s own law of eminent domain.
Posted by lumi at 6:58 PM
AMONG HEARTLAND HOMAGES, POLS ADDRESS URBAN ISSUES
One party has stated opposition to the US Supreme Court Kelo decision, which upheld the use of eminent domain for economic development.
In New York and other cities, the use of eminent domain to clear land for economic development is always controversial, be it at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn or on the area in West Harlem where Columbia University wants to create a new campus. In their platform, Republicans weigh in on the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo vs. City of New London, which permits governments to take land for private uses. "That 5-to-4 decision highlights what is at stake in the election of the next president, who may make new appointments to the Court," the platform reads. "We call on state legislatures to moot the Kelo decision by appropriate legislation, and we pledge on the federal level to pass legislation to protect against unjust federal takings."
NoLandGrab: Too bad VP candidate Sarah Palin couldn't remember this plank in her interview with Katie Couric; it would have scored her big points, despite her own record of abuse during her tenure as Mayor of Wasilla.
Even though eminent domain abuse is one of the few issues that crosses party lines, the silence of the Democratic party and the lip-service paid by the GOP indicates who really calls the shots in Washington.
Posted by lumi at 5:13 AM
October 23, 2008
Brooklyn's Top 50 Most Influential No. 21 - 30
Brownstoner
Two superheroines of the fight against the Atlantic Yards land grab made Brownstoner's 21-30 list:
23. Whether it be Atlantic Yards, Admirals Row or the proposed homeless intake center in Crown Heights, City Councilwoman Letitia James comes out with a position early and often, and fights for it while other local elected officials sit on the sidelines measuring the political climate. She's managed to come out as a leader for multiple factions of her diverse constituency, has been known to offer free legal assistance to causes she believes in, and is a tough interrogator at City Council hearings. Her office recently launched a blog called "Team Tish."
27. Joy Chatel tirelessly fought to save her home, which a national network of historians believe was involved in the Underground Railroad, from eminent domain ... and actually won. Now the city must build its underground parking garage and public plaza around her home. Without Chatel, hundreds of pages of history on Brooklyn's role in the abolitionism movement would not have been written. As a concession, the city has already agreed to commemorate Brooklyn's abolitionist movement in the planned plaza. And if Chatel succeeds in her dream, the home will be turned into a museum, an unplanned addition to the glitzy Downtown Brooklyn overhaul.
Posted by lumi at 6:16 AM
October 7, 2008
Meltdown gives
MetroNY
By Patrick Arden
While Mayor Bloomberg is still making plans for Willets Point that don't include anybody who is currently working there, ACORN protests for more affordable housing in the project.
However, one local housing advocate takes a broader view:
“There are times when big projects make sense, but then there are times when you have to rethink your strategy,” said Brad Lander of the Pratt Center for Community Development. “With Willets Point, they seem to be killing 1,500 non-Wall Street jobs for an outdated vanity project that’s not going to happen.”
From one land grab to another: "An outdated vanity project" never makes sense... especially when it's "not going to happen."
Posted by lumi at 6:12 AM
October 6, 2008
EMINENT DOMAINIA: The Big Apple Bites!
|
Queen's Chronicle, Willets Pt. owners fear eminent domain threat
Mayor Bloomberg's plans for Willets Point do not include this business owner, as the city's attempts to find another location for the business have proved futile: |
“If we get thrown out through eminent domain, then who’s to say you’re not next?” asked Jack Bono, who now heads Bono Sawdust Supply Co., with his son, Jake. “This kind of thing is done in other countries, not here.”
The Bonos own one-quarter of an acre on 127th Place and rent another quarter acre nearby for their operation that specializes in turning sawdust into a sweeping compound used in the construction trade and for animal bedding used by local stables, race tracks and the circus. It is the only such business remaining in New York City, they said.
The business is located in the 60-acre Willets Point area of Corona and Flushing that the city wants to develop into a $3 billion mixed-use project. The plan would require all businesses there to leave.
The city has promised to try and find them other locations, but so far has failed to locate anything comparable to the Bono’s current site. “They showed us two storefronts and a huge area in another borough,” said Jake Bono. “Our life is here in Queens. Where are we going to move?”
NY Newsday, Babylon seeks eminent domain on Wyandanch site
Wyandanch's downtown revitalization plans don't include this small business owner:
One reluctant seller, Moo S. Kwon, didn't want to move his 6-year-old beauty supply store from its current location at 1567 Straight Path, a desirable spot in the heart of the business corridor. However, Kwon said he felt he didn't have a choice after receiving a letter from Town Attorney Paul J. Margiotta indicating that the town was prepared to seize his property without his consent.
...
As a small-business owner, Kwon doesn't have the resources to fight Babylon in court if the government condemned his property."I have no choice," Kwon said. "What are we going to do?"
...
Kwon agreed to sell the property, which is more than 11,000 square feet, to Babylon for $420,000. The town, however, did not compensate him for his business."That's unfair," Kwon said.
Posted by eric at 5:33 AM
October 5, 2008
"Sitt"ing Not So Pretty
Noticing New York takes on the missing parts of the NY Times article "Failed Deals Replace Boom in New York Real Estate":
Not mentioned in the Times list of large-scale ambitious projects that are surely going to take longer to start and to complete than expected is the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment. This unnecessarily huge project already assails the community with an inordinately protracted development schedule. The schedule will be more protracted still. Unless the megadevelopment is replaced by something more appropriately designed and scaled, decades of blight will befall the adjoining communities. Again, as with nearly all eminent domain-abusing projects, it is an example of blight of our own making.If the Atlantic Yards project had never been undertaken, the newly renovated and expensive co-ops and condominiums within its speculative footprint would be fully and productively occupied just like the adjacent Newswalk development. In contrast to the lumbering Atlantic Yards besetting the community during these many recent boom years, without Atlantic Yards, the example of these successful cooperatives and condominiums developments would have been followed by other developments. Propelled by the boom of these past years the elegant white terra cotta Ward Bakery building, also within the speculative footprint, would no doubt have been landmarked: It would be well on it way to exciting the community with creative adaptative reuse.
Posted by amy at 9:57 AM
October 4, 2008
She Read the Cliffsnotes?
Talking Points Memo presents a Fox News clip of Sarah Palin making up for her original heedeous non-answer to the question of which Supreme Court cases she disagreed with. Kelo vs. New London makes an appearance in her new answer, but considering that she abused eminent domain in her tenure as mayor, her answer here may surprise you.
Ok, we won't leave you in suspense. Here's her answer as reported on Politico:
Also, eminent domain. That affects me as a governor and as a mayor as well. private property rights are so precious in this nation and for the Supreme Court to have sided with government, instead of the people, the property owners, that was frustrating.
Well, gee, Sarah, how do you explain this?
Posted by amy at 10:00 AM
October 2, 2008
Atlantic Yards Opponents Pleased With Court’s Denial of Motion
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Associated Press, with additional reporting by Ryan Thompson
Borough President Marty Markowitz said that he is disappointed by the recent denial of the motion to dismiss the eminent domain suit filed by opponents of Atlantic Yards.
“I truly believe that in the current economy, Brooklyn needs the kind of investment that Atlantic Yards will bring, the union jobs and affordable housing it will create. Projects like this one are catalysts for job creation and growth, and Atlantic Yards is a very important part of the effort to help Downtown Brooklyn, which is so well-served by public transit, become the kind of live-work hub and center of cultural life that our borough of 2.5 million has long deserved.”
NoLandGrab: Unfortunately, Marty will exploit anything in order to justify Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards project.
Brooklyn Downtown Star, Atlantic Yards Suit Has Merit, Court Says
Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards may be facing serious legal trouble, as the state’s move to dismiss the case was denied by a State Appellate Court.
...
The ESDC tried to dismiss the property owners’ case, but was unsuccessful in their attempts, and will have until October 15 to file their response.
Posted by lumi at 4:59 AM
October 1, 2008
Déjà delay all over again, redux (Part deux)
Here are two more online items on the latest Atlantic Yards hold-up, delay, stall, et cetera, et cetera...
Reason (blog), Eminent Domain Abuse on Hold in Brooklyn
Back in June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a previous Atlantic Yards case, Goldstein v. Pataki, which had challenged the eminent domain use on Fifth Amendment grounds. While the afflicted property owners were hardly thrilled at the High Court's refusal to take their case, lead attorney Matthew Brinckerhoff promised to take the fight to state court, declaring, "New York State law, and the state constitution, prohibit the government from taking private homes and businesses simply because a powerful developer demands it."
Today he scored his first victory. Here's hoping it isn't the last.
Campaign for Community-Based Planning, Atlantic Yards Opponents Will Get Their Day in Court After All
The lawsuit claims that Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project violates the New York State Constitution’s public use, due process and equal protection clauses, as well as low-income resident requirements. According to DDDB, the Court’s decision means that oral arguments will be heard in the case sometime in March or April, with a decision then expected between late spring and fall 2009.
This is a major setback for developer Bruce Ratner, who recently told the New York Times that he planned to break ground in December. The project cannot move forward without using eminent domain. In addition, according to the Times, Ratner has brokered a contract with Barclays Bank that would provide $20 million a year for naming rights to the arena. This contract requires FCR to close on the land and secure the financing by the end of November.
Posted by lumi at 6:49 AM
September 30, 2008
Déjà delay all over again, redux
The stories about more Atlantic Yards delays just keep on comin'.
Gothamist, Atlantic Yards Project Further Delayed By State Court
In light of yesterday's ruling, Ratner says the groundbreaking "may" be delayed another six months. The developer is also waiting for the IRS to rule on whether he can use tax exempt bonds to pay for the $1 billion arena, which he intends to build first. He's also struggling to line up financing for the rest of the $4 billion project, doesn't have an anchor tenant for the office tower, and city officials have not shown much enthusiasm about his recent request for $100 million more in taxpayer subsidies.
Curbed, Atlantic Yards 'Will Go Forward'
Bruce Ratner declares "let me be clear," yadda, yadda, "will go forward," yadda, yadda, "all the more important," yadda, yadda, "committed as ever," yadda, yadda, "ensure that it goes forward," yadda, yadda.
Posted by eric at 11:15 AM
Arena, 2012? The Nets likely have four more seasons in New Jersey
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder stays one step ahead of the mainstream media as he tries to pin down the constantly slipping timeline for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards arena:
Bruce Ratner admitted yesterday that a state appeals court decision not to dismiss the pending eminent domain lawsuit "may" delay an announced December groundbreaking for the Atlantic Yards arena by six months. It almost certainly will do so--and could delay it even longer.
That means that the long-promised 2010 arena opening, already discredited by Ratner's own words (after promises of openings in previous years went by the wayside), is impossible.
Also, though Ratner previously told investors the arena would open in 2011, it's highly unlikely the arena would open that year. An early 2012 opening seems more likely. Given the difficulty of moving a team in mid-season, that suggests, in the best-case scenario, that the New Jersey Nets would not become the Brooklyn Nets until the fall of 2012.
That means four more seasons in the creaky Meadowlands--2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12--unless there's a move, say, to Newark.
Oder reviews the timeline math, explains how the Barclays naming-rights deal was not fully examined in recent coverage, and how a renegotiated deal with the banking giant would presage the need for more subsidies.
Posted by lumi at 7:37 AM
Déjà delay all over again
Here are today's local headlines covering news that the State Appellate Division decided against the Empire State Development Corporation's motion to dismiss the eminent domain case, filed by nine property owners in the footprint of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards megaproject.
As we noted this weekend, the campaign to justify the project just took a new turn. Now Atlantic Yards is a must-needed economic engine to drive the city, heck even the country, out of the current fiscal crisis. This coordinated campaign was in evidence by Ratner's statement released to the press and Borough President Marty Markowitz's comment to the Brooklyn Paper.
Also, both daily tabloids noted that this isn't the first delay — originally the Nets were supposed to be playing in their new arena in 2006.
Headlines and highlights:
The NY Sun, Atlantic Yard Project Suffers a Setback
Remember, our country needs Atlantic Yards more than ever:
"While the Appellate Division Second Department's decision to hear the case may delay the project for approximately six months let me be clear that the project will go forward," Mr. Ratner said in a statement. "Atlantic Yards will be built and it will create thousands of needed jobs and affordable homes. This is all the more important as our City and country confront one of the most difficult economic downturns in history. We are as committed as ever to the development of this project and will continue to work with the City, State and local leaders to ensure that it goes forward."
NOTE: The Associated Press is reporting that today's edition of The NY Sun will be its last. As the ONLY New York paper that consistently voiced an opinion against taking people's homes and businesses for private projects, The Sun will be missed.
The Brooklyn Paper, Case against Atlantic Yards moves forward
It's not just litigation that's standing in the way of Bruce Ratner's dream of building an arena and the densest residential community in the nation:
Though Ratner downplayed the delay, opponents of the development pointed out that Ratner recently told The New York Times that he plans to “break ground” in December, but it is unclear how he will be able to do that given that his $400-million naming-rights deal with Barclays has not been finalized, the Treasury Department is seen as increasingly unlikely to change a key rule in Ratner’s favor, public officials are balking at a recent request by Ratner for $100 million more in taxpayer subsidies, and key financing — already in jeopardy before the credit crisis — has not been lined up.
Most important to the current case, Ratner does not yet own all the land on which he intends to build.
Marty sez that Brooklyn needs Atlantic Yards:
“I am disappointed [by the court ruling],” said Borough President Markowitz. “I truly believe that in the current economy, Brooklyn needs the kind of investment that Atlantic Yards will bring — the union jobs and affordable housing it will create. Projects like this one are catalysts for job creation and growth, and Atlantic Yards is a very important part of the effort to help Downtown Brooklyn.”
NY Daily News, Legal snag to delay Nets arena project
Remember, this isn't the first timeline delay:
When announced in 2003, the arena was to open in 2006, but mounting delays last year forced the Nets to postpone a move to Brooklyn until at least 2010.
From PR 101: when you run out of spin, then say nothing:
A Ratner spokesman declined to say if a planned December groundbreaking for Atlantic Yards will have to be postponed.
NY Post, FOES' SUIT POSTPONING YARDS WORK
Is the Barclays deal in jeopardy? Barclays does a spin move:
Also up in the air now is the record $400 million naming-rights deal with Barclays Bank, first reported by The Post in January 2007, which is expected to help offset the cost of the arena.
That is now in question because the deal was contingent on Ratner's having his entire project financing set by the end of November, which is now impossible.
When asked if an extension would be negotiated, a Barclays spokesman skirted the question but said, "We look forward to breaking ground with our partners in Brooklyn."
When Ratner announced his plan for Atlantic Yards in 2003, he had hoped to move the Nets to Brooklyn by the 2006-07 season.
amNY, Brooklyn arena could be delayed another 6 months
Posted by lumi at 6:08 AM
September 29, 2008
Atlantic Yards Faces Another Delay
City Room [NY Times Blog]
by Charles Bagli
The developer of the ambitious Atlantic Yards arena and residential complex in Brooklyn said Monday that the project could be delayed for another six months after a state appellate court failed to dismiss a court challenge brought by opponents of the $4 billion project.
Earlier this month, the developer Bruce C. Ratner vowed that he would break ground in December on the long delayed project, where he plans to build an office tower, 15 apartment buildings and a basketball arena for the Nets.
The developer has fended off a number of lawsuits brought by critics of the project over the past two years. He and state officials had expected that the state Appellate Court would also dismiss the latest suit, which sought to block the state from using eminent domain to seize private property for Mr. Ratner’s project.
Instead, the court denied a motion to dismiss the suit, opening the door for oral arguments in the case next spring.
NoLandGrab: Ratner and the Empire State Development Corporation rolled the dice, and they crapped out. If they hadn't gambled on a dismissal, they could have moved the case along much more quickly. Is it possible that deteriorating conditions in the lending market forced them into making a bad bet?
More coverage...
TheDeal.com, Barclays deals with Lehman staff, plans to hire 1,500 more
Off the beaten track, Barclays gave a shout-out to Brooklyn, saying it remains committed to a proposed basketball arena at the Atlantic Yards despite an unfavorable court ruling on the $950 million project.
Runnin' Scared [Village Voice blog] Setback for Atlantic Yards: Motion to Dismiss Denied
The Stop Shopping Monitor, Major setback for Atlantic Yards
Newark Star-Ledger, Nets' move to Brooklyn may face further delay
The Knickerblogger, Ratner Suffers Setback, the Conspiracy Theory Version
Posted by eric at 5:48 PM
Atlantic Yards Groundbreaking on Pause for 6 Months
Eminent domain lawsuit allowed to go forward
WNYC Radio
by Matthew Schuerman
While the plaintiffs lost a similar case in federal court, the state proceedings will delay the project right as a recession is threatening.
The project's developer, Forest City Ratner, had announced that a groundbreaking on the Barclays Center basketball arena would take place by the end of this year.
But a ground can't be broken before the project secures financing, and the financing won't come before all litigation is resolved. In an official statement today, the developer, Forest City Ratner, says it is confident it will build the arena.
Posted by eric at 4:39 PM
PRESS RELEASE, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn: Court Rejects New York State's Effort to Dismiss Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Case
Ruling is a Major Setback for Bruce Ratner's Proposed Project and the Empire State Development Corporation
Property Owners and Tenants Will Get Their Day in Court Next Year
BROOKLYN, NY— A State Appellate Court* panel has rejected the Empire State Development Corporation's (ESDC) motion to dismiss Goldstein et al. v. Empire State Development Corporation—the Atlantic Yards eminent domain lawsuit filed by nine property owners and tenants with properties in the footprint of Forest City Ratner's foundering megaproject proposal. The case was filed on August 1st of this year.
The ESDC unsuccessfully tried to dismiss the petitioners' case, which charges that New York State's use of eminent domain to seize private homes and businesses for developer Forest City Ratner's (FCR) Atlantic Yards project violates the New York State Constitution's public use, due process and equal protection clauses, as well as low-income resident requirements.
The petitioners' victory is a major setback for FCR and the ESDC. FCR President/CEO Bruce Ratner recently told The New York Times that he plans to "break ground" in December. Ratner does not own the land he needs to build his proposed arena and skyscraper project, and is attempting to have New York State seize the land for him by eminent domain.
"Though Ratner claims that he'll ‘break ground' for his Atlantic Yards proposal in December, he cannot do so unless New York State uses eminent domain to seize the owners' and tenants' properties and give them to him as planned. But the plan is now in doubt," said Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn** Legal Director Candace Carponter.
The Court has given the ESDC until October 15th to file its answer to the petitioners' complaint. According to the normal briefing schedule, petitioners will then file their brief on January 15th, 2009. The ESDC would reply in mid-February and petitioners would file their answering brief at the end of February. Oral argument would then most likely be scheduled for sometime in March or April and a decision would presumably come somewhere between late spring and fall of 2009.
"The seizure of my clients' homes and businesses is unconstitutional. We are pleased that the Court has recognized the merit of our case and will now hear the arguments in full," said lead attorney Matthew Brinckerhoff of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP. "We are confident that when we finally have our day in court, we will show that New York State's condemnation and seizure of my clients' homes and businesses for Forest City Ratner's enrichment violates New York's Constitution."
The initial complaint to the Court and the briefs on the motion to dismiss for Goldstein et al. v. Empire State Development Corporation can be downloaded at: www.dddb.net/eminentdomain
The Court's order denying the motion to dismiss can be found at: http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/motions/2008/2008_84057.htm
* Note: The case at issue is not an appeal; it is a complaint that originates in the Appellate Division. New York State law requires that all eminent domain challenges must be initiated in the Appellate Court, rather than the lower court—the Supreme Court.
** Note: Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, in our effort to defend the homes and businesses of members of our community, and to advocate for their rights, organized the eminent domain lawsuit, and raises the funds to support it.
DEVELOP DON'T DESTROY BROOKLYN leads a broad-based community coalition fighting for development that will unite our communities instead of dividing and destroying them
DDDB is 501c3 non-profit corporation supported by over 4,000 individual donors from the community.
Posted by lumi at 5:31 AM
Groundbreaking, 2008? Eminent domain case survives motion to dismiss; hearing no sooner than March
Atlantic Yards Report
The State of New York was denied a quick win by the courts and instead prolonged Forest City Ratner's timetable to clear the Atlantic Yards project of all legal encumberances:
The chances for anything more than a faux Atlantic Yards groundbreaking in 2008 have now plummeted, after an attempt by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to short-circuit the pending state eminent domain case has been denied by an appellate court. That means an oral argument would occur no sooner than March, with a decision some months after that.
The decision denying the ESDC's motion to dismiss, apparently on procedural grounds, doesn’t give the plaintiffs the edge in a long-shot case similar to the one that already failed in federal court, which was seen as more hospitable to such a challenge. But it does undermine the unrealistic timetable regularly promoted by developer Forest City Ratner and complicates the arena naming rights deal with Barclays Capital.
FCR has pledged multiple times that a groundbreaking would take place in November or December, notwithstanding the likelihood that pending legal cases and the unavailability so far of tax-exempt bonds would jeopardize the project.
FCR could still hold a groundbreaking on land it already owns, but it can’t raise funds to build the arena until the lawsuits are cleared. The pledge of a 2008 groundbreaking likely was keyed to the requirement that the $400 million Barclays deal requires arena financing to be closed by November--seemingly an impossibility now.
Norman Oder posted this analysis, followed by a thorough explanation of the court papers filed, on his blog.
Posted by lumi at 5:26 AM
September 26, 2008
Does AY "exist"? State judge dismisses lawsuit that challenged AY deadline and sought new hearing
Atlantic Yards Report
A lawsuit brought by tenants located in the footprint of the proposed Atlantic Yards project was dismissed by the New York Supreme Court. The Atlantic Yards Report goes into some of the specifics of the decision.
A “smaller” lawsuit involving the Atlantic Yards project has been dismissed by a State Supreme Court justice, who rejected charges by tenants in two AY footprint buildings that that the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) is violating a provision of state law that requires disposition of properties within a decade and should hold another hearing because the project has changed considerably.
Attorney George Locker says there will be an appeal:
Locker commented yesterday, “There is an elephant in the room. It is a project that does not exist. Choose to see the elephant, and the legal reasoning follows. Choose to ignore the elephant, and you have Judge Solomon's decision.”
He added, “In a prior but unrelated decision, the Appellate Division ordered ESDC to hold a hearing when the project that it had proposed was changed. Judge Solomon avoided the hearing issue entirely by saying it's the same project. How come Bruce Ratner won't contractually commit to a ten year project, Phase II has no time limit, but Judge Solomon finds there's no evidence it's not the same project?”
“So we will appeal to the Appellate Division, and see whether the Appellate Division chooses to see the elephant in the room. Maybe by then, the Court will have decided that the area is not blighted,” he said, referring to the September 16 argument in the case challenging the AY environmental review. “We will also give the Appellate Division the opportunity to decide whether the project exists at all."
Posted by steve at 5:42 AM
September 25, 2008
EMINENT DOMAINIA
WILLETS POINT
As most of you heard, the NY City Planning Commission voted to approve Mayor Bloomberg's redevelopment plan of Willets Point in Queens.
That means that the proposed plan is headed to a vote in the City Council, the legislative body that had no vote on Atlantic Yards and rubber-stamped the Columbia University expansion plan. Watchdogs anticipate a more contentious debate over Willets Point, where a majority of councilmembers have already sided with the property owners.
Here are today's headlines:
The NY Sun, Willets Point Plan Gets Planning Approval
NY Daily News, Showdown coming over Willets Point
The Wonkster, Willets Point Approved
NY1, Planning Commission Votes To Move Forward With Willets Point Redevelopment
RATNERVILLE
Because one eminent domain hearing is never enough, Noticing New York blogger Michael D. D. White sped from State Senator Bill Perkins's hearing to the NY State Appellate Court in time to catch a judicial colloquy about blight. He posted a detailed account of his eminent domain double header.
Noticing New York, Contrivance in the service of creating blight, real blight- Listen again- REAL blight
The theme for heavily-evented Wednesday, Thursday and this week as a whole is deceit, manipulation and contrivance in the service of bringing blight to our communities.
Wednesday morning State Senator Bill Perkins held hearings about the need for eminent domain reform in New York where eminent domain abuse probably outstrips such abuse anywhere else in the country.
...
After Senator Perkins’ eminent domain hearing there was hardly time to get to the oral argument, in the state lawsuit challenging the Atlantic Yards environmental review.
...
Once again we were considering a record of deceit, manipulation and contrivance in the service of bringing blight to our communities.
WOLRDWIDE ABUSE
A true sign of a progressive democracy, at least the United States can hold its head up high and lay claim that we don't jail or strip property owners who fight to keep their homes, according to the last time we checked.
Ground Report, Female Chinese Land Seizure Protesters Stripped Naked & Jailed
The NY Times coverage comes to us via a local Libertarian blog, which places Mayor Bloomberg's New York in some fine company:
Atlantic Yards, Willets Point, Manhattanville, the list goes on. Whether it is China or the United States, Zimbabwe or the Middle East, a change in philosophy is needed that embraces individualism, individual liberty, private property and markets that thoroughly and consistently rejects their opposites.
WE WEREN'T BORN YESTERDAY. YOU?
The editorial board at the El Paso Times recommends that the city use eminent domain only "as a last resort" after removing the threat of eminent domain from the table. Huh?
El Paso Times, Eminent domain: Use only as last resort
Keep eminent domain as a last-ditch tool, but don't wield it as a weapon.
To quote Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, "If you have a bazooka in your pocket and people know it, you probably won't have to use it." 'Nuff said.
Posted by lumi at 5:57 AM
September 24, 2008
Planning Commission approves Willets Point plan
Crain's NY Business
by Matthew Sollars
The surprise here is that one of the 12 City Planning Commissioners actually voted against the Bloomberg administration's proposal to redevelop Willets Point, though City Council member Hiram Monseratte saved us the trouble by calling today's vote "a rubber stamp."
The Willets Point plan will now move to the City Council for a vote, where its fate is far from certain. A majority of council members have pledged to vote against the plan if it does not include a higher percentage of affordable housing. They have also objected to the use of eminent domain, something the city has not ruled out if it can’t come to terms with property owners to acquire the land there.
Posted by eric at 4:53 PM
September 23, 2008
City, workers at odds over Willets Pt. retraining
One of the programs will focus on providing jobs in the hotel industry. But Willets Point workers, many of them in the automotive repair industry, say they would rather keep their jobs and move with their employers.
Crain's NY Business
by Daniel Massey
The city is proposing that Willets Point workers it intends to displace be retrained for jobs in the hospitality industry, but the workers are happy doing what they've been doing.
“Once again, the city intentionally fails to acknowledge the existing jobs at Willets Point,” said Jack Bono, owner of Bono Sawdust Supply. “It's ludicrous for the city to create a ‘Workforce Development Program’ for people who are already fully employed.”
Willets Point workers said the city’s training program is not the answer to their problems. “That’s not a solution for us,” said Sergio Aguirre, coordinator of the Willets Point Defense Committee, which represents tenant-run businesses and their workers. “Training can be part of the solution, but we want to be relocated. Almost everybody has been working in auto mechanics for many years. We’re experienced in that.”
NoLandGrab: How about a program for retraining certain elected officials and bureaucrats for exciting careers as used-car salesmen?
Posted by eric at 4:22 PM
September 22, 2008
Sun: eminent domain law reform may be possible (but don't hold your breath)
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder, too, thinks that the New York Sun might be a bit overly optimistic about prospects for eminent domain reform in New York State.
As the article details, however, neither Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver nor Gov. David Paterson have expressed support for changes (though Paterson did in 2005, as a State Senator).
Moreover, though the article mentions Atlantic Yards, the Columbia University expansion, and redevelopment at Willets Point, unmentioned is that any new legislation might grandfather in projects already under way.
So I'd bet that a temporary commission, as proposed by the New York State Bar Association, is a more likely first step than new legislation.
More speculation...
Curbed, Big Projects Facing New Trouble After November?
The Municipal Art Society, Eminent Domain in the Spotlight
NoLandGrab: Property rights have been a traditional concern of the right, so a Democratic takeover of the State Senate wouldn't seem to increase the odds of eminent domain reform in New York.
Posted by eric at 9:47 AM
Victorious Senate Democrats Could Target Eminent Domain
NY Sun
by Peter Kiefer
This seems like wishful thinking on the part of the conservative Sun, but there are individual senators, like Harlem's Bill Perkins, who genuinely are on the side of home and business owners.
A Democratic takeover of the Senate in November could result in changes to the state's eminent domain law, possibly complicating several of the city's largest development projects.
State Senator Bill Perkins, a Democrat of Harlem, is calling for a moratorium on the use of eminent domain and said he is willing to push for more restrictions on the use of eminent domain, provided the political climate is right in Albany.
"I don't know of too many other issues where you have such diverse and pervasive outrage," he said yesterday in an interview.
Mr. Perkins said he would be meeting with Governor Paterson this week to discuss the findings of a hearing he held last week examining the possible use of eminent domain for the proposed $7 billion expansion of Columbia University's campus. He said Mr. Paterson was "supportive" of his work on eminent domain, but said he had not discussed specifics with the governor.
NoLandGrab: The Governor, of course, called for just such a moratorium when he was a state Senator, but now that he's got the juice to actually do something about it, he's been silent on the issue.
A spokesman for the Mayor's office, unsurprisingly, claimed erroneously that the city uses eminent domain only when it's "absolutely needed for an important public purpose, and even then, as a last resort." Yadda, yadda, yadda.
Posted by eric at 8:55 AM
September 20, 2008
Friday Links Roundup: AY Report Edition
The Campaign for Community-Based Planning
Eminent domain was the main issue on our minds this week. Atlantic Yards was back in court, appealing the decision in the case challenging the project’s environmental review. According to Atlantic Yards Report, “While the lawsuit covers an enormous area of ground, including the definition of a ‘civic project,’ whether a ten-year project buildout was realistic, and whether the ESDC properly studied terrorism, among other issues, the final round of appeal papers focused mainly on blight.” AYR gave background on Tuesday, and covered Wednesday’s court proceedings.AYR was also there at State Senator Perkins’ eminent domain hearing, which we attended on Wednesday, and provided more in-depth coverage.
AYR also covered Thursday’s Congressional hearing in Washington, titled “Gaming the Tax Code: Public Subsidies, Private Profits, and Big League Sports in New York,” which focused primarily on Yankee Stadium. This hearing made headlines when Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said that there is “substantial evidence of improprieties and possible fraud” in the new Yankee Stadium development.
link
NoLandGrab: It's a good thing that AYR is run by 20 hard-working full-time staffers, or we'd never know what was going on.
Posted by amy at 3:05 PM
September 18, 2008
Daily News Eminent Domain Smackdown!
NY Daily News Opinion
In today's Daily News, the mixed tag-team of columnist Errol Louis and the Partnership for New York City's Kathryn Wylde (in pro wrestling parlance, they'd be known as "heels") gang up on West Harlem property-owner and Columbia University land grab resistance-fighter Nick Sprayregen (the "face," in wrestling-speak).
We need eminent domain to keep New York City growing, by Kathryn Wylde
Wylde, who gets paid very well to advocate on behalf of New York City's largest corporations (and greatest beneficiaries of property seizures), pens an ode to eminent domain.
Eminent domain has been required for most of our large public projects - from Lincoln Center, Times Square and downtown Brooklyn to affordable housing throughout the five boroughs. Without eminent domain, New York and other older urban centers could not have kept pace with demands for upgraded infrastructure, modern office facilities and increased housing stock.
Unfortunately, eminent domain is under attack. Property rights advocates believe it is unconstitutional to condemn private property for almost any purpose. Anti-development groups claim that it allows big government to collude with rich developers to override the interests of the little guy. Bills have been proposed in the state Legislature and the City Council that would limit the use of eminent domain and slow down economic development in New York at the worst possible point in the economic cycle.
NoLandGrab: We'd like Ms. Wylde to name a "large public project" in downtown Brooklyn. Seems to us they're all private.
And for the record, "the worst possible point in the economic cycle" was when some of the Partnership for NYC's member companies — like Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch and UBS — were making greedy, foolish investments in sub-prime mortgages and risky derivative products. With taxpayers having to bail out some of these bad bets with billions upon billions of dollars, should we also be offering up another form of corporate socialism to other Partnership for NYC members — like Forest City Ratner, Nets Sports & Entertainment, Related Companies and Tishman Speyer?
The eminent domain game is rigged, by Nick Sprayregen
Sadly for all New Yorkers, our state is the most egregious perpetrator of eminent domain abuse in our country. I should know since for the last four years I have battled the state and Columbia University - a private entity - in their threatened use of eminent domain. Columbia wants my land in West Harlem to assist the school in a planned 17-acre expansion in the Manhattanville neighborhood.
The university is in league with the state, and together they are threatening to wield this extraordinary power to take away a business my family has built over decades.
This is dead wrong.
Defenders of the system say eminent domain is necessary to allow for big economic development and housing projects to go forward. They liken today's use of eminent domain to yesterday's use, when property was condemned for the building of roads, fire houses and public libraries. Today, however, what the practice really amounts to is the state playing favorites, choosing one private interest over another - and abusing a government power that should only be wielded in the most limited of circumstances.
The game is rigged, in multiple ways.
NoLandGrab: Sprayregen explains how the deck is stacked mightily against condemnees — "blight" is in the eye of the condemnor, no jury trial, no witnesses allowed, no cross-examination, no discovery, etc., etc.
The right way to fight blight, by Errol Louis
In West Harlem, there are a couple of business owners who don't want to sell their property at any price, which Columbia and ESDC say would cripple the planned project. The most prominent holdout, a man named Nick Sprayregen, is a developer in his own right, with a considerable number of business ventures and commercial properties in Harlem, the Bronx and elsewhere.
Sprayregen has hired civil rights attorney and public advocate candidate Norman Siegel to battle ESDC and Columbia and a series of lawsuits have been launched, along with a frontal attack on New York's eminent domain laws.
Siegel and Sprayregen are perfectly within their rights to try and rewrite the law, and a re-examination of the 40-year-old rules makes sense. New York, unlike most states, gives broad leeway to agencies like ESDC to define when and how eminent domain may be applied, and only a fleeting window of time for property owners to object.
NoLandGrab: Louis fails to deal with the question of why Columbia, a private entity, should be able to develop the land owned by Sprayregen, a private owner. And no one has really offered a good explanation of why Columbia can't work around Sprayregen's property. Why should Nick Sprayregen pay the price for Columbia's failure to plan better?
Posted by eric at 10:53 AM
At state Senate hearing, calls for reform of state eminent domain laws, notably blight
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder (he must have an identical twin, at least) attended yesterday's State Senate hearing on eminent domain, and filed his usual comprehensive report.
Opponents of governmental plans to use eminent domain for Atlantic Yards, the Columbia University expansion, and Willets Point redevelopment were at center stage yesterday at a State Senate hearing on reforming state eminent domain laws, where they and others pointed out that, in the years following the Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo v. New London Supreme Court decision, New York has been among the few states that has made no effort to tighten eminent domain laws either through legislative or judicial action.
“Nowhere else in the country is eminent domain used to benefit private interests so rampantly and so brazenly,” declared Christina Walsh, a representative of the Institute for Justice, the libertarian legal organization that has led the fight nationally against eminent domain.
Harlem State Senator Bill Perkins, an opponent of the Columbia expansion who convened the hearing, called for a moratorium on the use of eminent domain in the state and a stall on the Columbia plan. He said he supported a special commission to reform eminent domain laws--a recommendation made by a New York State Bar Association task force to study changes in the 32-year-old Eminent Domain Procedure Law (EDPL).
Among the recommendations: formally define and limit the definition of “blight,” which is undefined; give those threatened by eminent domain a chance to challenge determinations in court by calling witnesses; and even to eliminate the use of eminent domain for private redevelopment.
Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, drawing on the Atlantic Yards example, suggested that only locally elected legislative bodies, not the unelected agencies like the Empire State Development Corporation, approve the use of eminent domain.
Posted by eric at 9:13 AM
In appeal of case challenging AY environmental review, some justices skeptical of state’s blight claim
Atlantic Yards Report
Was it déjà vu? As with the May 2007 oral argument in the state lawsuit challenging the Atlantic Yards environmental review, the plaintiffs in the appeal yesterday exited optimistically, with a sense that the court—in this case, at least two of five appellate judges—was sympathetic toward their argument. Again, representatives of developer Forest City Ratner and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), along with their clutch of attorneys, exited looking none too cheery.
Notably, when a judge skeptical of the blight claim asked whether environmental consultant AKRF had ever not found blight when asked to look for it, the ESDC attorney sidestepped the question.
Then again, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden, when it came time to rule last January, came out squarely on the side of the defendants, so the questions in court hardly predict a final ruling. Still, even a 3-2 decision upholding Madden means an automatic appeal to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, potentially stringing out the case even longer.
Norman Oder published a detailed account of the hearing.
More coverage...
Brownstoner, AY Arguments Heard at Appellate Court
Curbed, Atlantic Yards Is Back in Court Again
Posted by lumi at 6:56 AM
Task Force Testifes on Eminent Domain for State Senators
From the Campaign for Community-Based Planning:
This morning, State Senators Bill Perkins and Efraim Gonzales held a public hearing on eminent domain at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building on 125th Street.
Perkins issued a statement reading, “In many instances, eminent domain is an instrument used by government, not in the context of their independently created economic development plans, but at the behest of private developers who wish for the state and city to use its powers of eminent domain to aggregate parcels of land for commercial benefit. This methodology has strained the relationship between government and communities affected by these development plans, that have at best, a vague purpose and at worst create the impression of a corporatocracy instead of true democratic governance. It will be critical to examine the original procedural structure in place to justify and exercise eminent domain.” The hearing’s intention was to gather ideas for potential legislation that would govern eminent domain at the state level.
Many familiar faces from eminent domain battles in NYC were present this morning, including: Nick Sprayregen, a property owner in Columbia University’s expansion footprint (who blogs here); Daniel Goldstein, a property owner in the Atlantic Yards footprint and member of Develop, Don’t Destroy Brooklyn; and Dan Feinstein of the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association, among many others. Julie Lawrence, a member of Brooklyn Community Board 1, delivered testimony on behalf of the Community-Based Planning Task Force, which you can read [on the CBP blog].
Posted by lumi at 6:50 AM
September 17, 2008
As Projects Cue Up, Louder Calls for Stricter Eminent Domain Laws
New York Observer
by Eliot Brown
It's been something of an eminent domain-filled day so far, with three events focusing on the state and city's ability to acquire private land, particularly for economic development: First a hearing, then a press conference, and a scheduled court appearance.
...State Senator Bill Perkins, along with Senators Velmanette Montgomery and Efrain Gonzales, held a hearing this morning in Harlem where he said he intends to create a commission to study reform of New York's eminent domain laws. While most states saw a backlash against its use following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Kelo v. City of New London in 2005, New York's laws went unchanged.
"Something has to be done," Mr. Perkins said. "We're going to put together the commission," and work to pass new legislation.
NoLandGrab: Today's court appearance was actually the appeal of the community challenge to the Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Statement, not the use of eminent domain. That state case has yet to be heard.
Posted by eric at 8:47 PM
In EIS case appeal, debate over blight and a mysterious market study
Atlantic Yards Report
Key to the battle in the lawsuit over the Atlantic Yards environmental review, the subject of an oral argument in state appellate court [today], is a document that surfaced only in mid-August, well after the lawsuit (or even the appeal) was filed by 26 neighborhood and civic groups. The document that suggests that the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), in its eagerness to determine blight on the Atlantic Yards footprint, ignored or omitted an investigation into market trends that was part of the initial Blight Study contract with environmental consultant AKRF.
The document, which I received via a Freedom of Information Law Request (seeking information on the issue of conflict-of-interest, not blight) shows that AKRF, in the Contract Scope for the Blight Study, was supposed to “analyze residential and commercial rents on the project site and within the study area and to analyze assessed value trends on the project site.”
No such analysis was conducted, even as claims by the plaintiffs—echoing many Atlantic Yards critics, and even some supporters—that the project footprint wasn’t blighted were dismissed as merely anecdotal.
The plaintiffs, who are appealing the dismissal of their case, want the Contract Scope to be included in the administrative record, while the ESDC and fellow defendant Forest City Ratner disagree. No decision has emerged before the hearing, but, should the judges favor the plaintiffs on this procedural issue, that would offer new support to the legal argument challenging blight.
Norman Oder reviews the briefs as a preview of today's oral arguments. Click here to read the entire article.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Another Atlantic Yards Appeal Scheduled for Wednesday
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the lead community group in opposition to Bruce Ratner’s proposed Atlantic Yards project, is asking its supporters to attend the oral argument of its appeal Wednesday in court.
According to DDDB, the argument is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Appellate Division, First Department in Downtown Manhattan.
DDDB is the lead plaintiff in this particular lawsuit filed by several community groups who petitioned the state supreme court in April in an attempt to have the $4 billion project’s final environmental impact statement and approval annulled.
The Manhattan Supreme Court dismissed the case earlier this year. So far, the opponents of Atlantic Yards -- which has been described as the largest single-design project in the city’s history -- continue to lose each and every lawsuit and appeal that they file.
NoLandGrab: Actually, a couple "opponents" have won lawsuits in connection with the project: A suit brought by property owner Lars Williams for his improper arrest for vandalism was settled out of court; Henry Weinstein won his claim that the lease for his building was unlawfully transferred to Bruce Ratner, who made false claims that he "controlled" the parcel.
These suits were not brought by Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and haven't changed the fact that Bruce Ratner is taking down every building he can get his hands on, but by conflating "opponents" and "Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn," the Eagle isn't painting an accurate picture.
Posted by lumi at 5:48 AM
It came from the Blogosphere...
Runnin' Scared, Anti-Development Rumblings in Brooklyn
According to the Village Voice news blog:
No Land Grab and Atlantic Yards Report ride herd on rapacious developers every day.
...well, at least one rapacious developer.
Ground Report, NY Governor Dubs Politicians Bloodsuckers
Libertarian blogger Richard Cooper says it takes one to know one:
Democratic New York Governor David Paterson described politicians as bloodsuckers.
...
Paterson is correct in his description of his colleagues. But what about himself as a governor and state senator?Where does he stand on eminent domain, corporate welfare, and the welfare state in general? What about Willets Point, Atlantic Yards, or Manhattanville eminent domain schemes? He supported a property tax cap. But what about the sales tax, the income tax and the numerous taxes dubbed fees by the bloodsuckers? What about the state debt that has us New Yorkers in bondage? Does he support the Empire State Development Corporation?
The Campaign for Community-Based Planning, Friday Links Roundup
The drama continues at Atlantic Yards, where developer Bruce Ratner says they will break ground in December. Even the NY Times doesn’t seem so sure.
NoLandGrab: "Drama?" Yeah, maybe the Times's theater desk should start covering the affair.
The Campaign for Community-Based Planning, New Eminent Domain Blog: My Land Is Mine
Tomorrow, the Community-Based Planning Task Force will provide testimony on the use of eminent domain in New York City at an (invite only) public hearing sponsored by State Senator Bill Perkins. We’ll put the testimony up shortly, but in the meantime, check out a new blog from Task Force supporting organization Coalition to Preserve Community: My Land Is Mine.
Posted by lumi at 5:40 AM
September 12, 2008
If the Sun Sets
Noticing New York contemplates life without The Sun:
Notwithstanding how ardently the public feels about [eminent domain], the Democratic establishment has ceded this issue to others. Those declaring themselves Libertarians are the most reliably opposed to eminent domain abuse, but Republicans have a somewhat better record of taking the right position on this issue and it must be recognized that Republican Supreme Court appointees- essentially the same ones who voted to put Bush in office in Bush v. Gore.- aligned against the use of eminent domain in Kelo.
With the Democratic establishment ceding this popular issue to others, the New York Times likewise cedes proper coverage of the issue to the extent that it aligns itself with the Democratic establishment. It should also be remembered that the Times, in partnership with Forest City Ratner, took advantage of eminent domain to build its new Times Tower. That use of eminent domain in that particular instance was assertedly abusive and Forest City Ratner’s pursuit of it with respect to Atlantic Yards unquestionably is.
The New York Times has been reconstituting itself as a national newspaper. In doing so it has been making its national coverage much more important than its local coverage. Therefore, to the extent that eminent domain abuse is used in New York, the issue has been doubly, or maybe triply times ceded.
Therefore I will miss the Sun.
Posted by lumi at 5:41 AM
EMINENT DOMAINIA: The Big Apple Bites!
My Land is Mine, SIGN THE PETITION and STOP THE ABUSE!!!
West Harlem property owner Nick Sprayregen posted this petition on his new blog.
We, the undersigned, object to the use of eminent domain in the Columbia University Expansion Plan.
First, Manhattanville is not a blighted community and Eminent Domain is not needed to stimulate economic development or to eliminate blight.
Second, The Columbia Plan has been developer driven and developed principally to benefit Columbia. The taking of private property and transfering it to Columbia, a private institution, is unconstitutional and illegal because it does not constitute a “public use” and is without a dominant public purpose.
Third, since Columbia now owns over 80% of the property in the affected area and will have control over 96% of the area, Eminent Domain is not necessary or appropriate to attain any legitimate public purpose in Manhattanville.
By signing our name below, we, individually and collectively, say NO to the use of Eminent Domain in the Columbia Expansion Plan in West Harlem/Manhattanville.
Click here and scroll down to sign Sprayregen's petition.
The New York Times, A Dilapidated Tract of Queens, and a Fight to Control Its Future
If you read this article about how the City is trying to divide the coalition of large and small business owners fighting the Willets Point land grab, keep in mind that the "dilapidated tract" of the "bedraggled industrial triangle known as Willets Point" was caused by the same City that is now trying to get control of the land.
[W]hen Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled a plan last year to overhaul the area with a hotel, school and convention center, homes, offices, parks and retail stores, two distinct groups rose up in opposition.
One comprises the owners of the area’s largest businesses, who own half the land in Willets Point and who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbyists, consultants and political contributions to the City Council members who will vote on the city’s plan.
The other consists of auto shop workers and shop owners who rent space in Willets Point. They are, for the most part, poor and Latino, and can afford to do little more than print T-shirts denouncing the project.
In public, the two groups present a picture of perfect unity, waving signs and chanting, “Justice for Willets Point.” But in reality, each side is motivated by different concerns and fears about its survival.
The Bloomberg administration has stepped up efforts in recent weeks to find new space for the big-business owners, offering above-market prices for some of their land.
But most owners say they will not leave Willets Point and will fight the city should it try to seize their properties by eminent domain. The small-business owners, on the other hand, are willing to move, but city officials said that they could not relocate the renters until the city had acquired all the land in Willets Point. And even then, there may not be a place to put all of them.
Posted by lumi at 4:25 AM
September 8, 2008
No Show? No Problem For State Development Agency
WNYC Radio
by Matthew Schuerman
Atlantic Yards scores a dishonorable mention in this WNYC report about how ESDC officials are rarely present at eminent domain hearings.
When the Empire State Development Corporation held hearings last week on whether to declare property in West Harlem "blighted," no board members showed up. That's not unusual for the state authority, but it would be if another agency were in charge. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman explains.
NoLandGrab: While the ESDC claims that its board members have plenty of time to "review transcripts" of testimony before they vote, the questions they tend to pose before casting their votes betrays that reviewing those transcripts ranks right behind rearranging their sock drawers on their list of priorities.
Posted by eric at 11:38 AM
Your Chance to Vote on Eminent Domain Abuse
Noticing New York nominated "Eminent Domain Abuse" as a topic for the Brian Lehrer Show's “Thirty Issues In Thirty Days” series for WNYC.
The topic is as relevant as any, since eminent domain is being used for private projects all over the city and polls show that Americans are unanimously opposed to the practice.
One of the topics now nominated, courtesy of yours truly here at Noticing New York, is the subject of eminent domain abuse.
So, if you are interested in what will surely be a very well-produced event get ready to go to the Brian Lehrer show site to vote for its discussion.
The nomination (currently # 102 submitted September 04, 2008 at10:56AM) says:
Topic: Eminent Domain Abuse
To which national party do we go to address this issue? According to polls up to 90% of Americans disagree with the Kelo decision but protections are not in place in New York, on the federal level or many other places. Abuse usually involves big corporations trampling on individual rights in pursuit of profit, the kind of thing for which we often instinctively blame Republicans but Democrats seem to have largely ceded this emotional issue to Libertarian and Republican candidates and, ironically, it is the conservative Republican judicial appointees who have been willing to uphold individual constitutional rights- The same justices who might overturn Roe v. Wade. It is a federal as well as a state issue because federal funding could require no abuse. Ratner is spending hundreds of millions lobbying against this.
NoLandGrab: If any other readers are planning on nominating Eminent Domain, note in the submission guidelines that descriptions are supposed to be 30 words or less.
MORE ABUSE
And speaking about Eminent Domain Abuse, Noticing New York also attended and submitted testimony at the Empire State Development Corporation's public hearing on the Columbia University land grab.
Click here for a report on the hearing and a copy of the testimony.
Posted by lumi at 5:29 AM
September 7, 2008
Palin's Hockey Rink Leads To Legal Trouble in Town She Led
Wall Street Journal shows that the "Killa from Wasilla" has a little secret about eminent domain and arenas on the public dime. Pushing a project through that was still in litigation turned out to not be the best idea:
Ms. Palin marched ahead, making the public case for a sales-tax increase and $14.7 million bond issue to pay for the sports center, which was to feature a running track, basketball courts and a hockey rink. At the time, the city's annual budget was about $20 million. In a March 2002 referendum, residents approved the mayor's plan by a 20-vote margin, 306 to 286. The city cleared roads, installed utilities and made preparations to build.Later that year, Ms. Palin's final one as mayor, the federal judge reversed his own decision and ruled that the property rightfully belonged to Mr. Lundgren. Wasilla had never signed the proper papers, the court ruled.
...
After Ms. Palin left office, the city decided to take 80 acres of Mr. Lundgren's property through eminent domain. An Alaska court confirmed the city's right to do so and ordered that an arbitrator determine the appropriate price.Last year, the arbitrator ordered the city to pay $836,378 for the 80-acre parcel, far more than the $126,000 Wasilla originally thought it would pay for a piece of land 65 acres larger. The arbitrator also determined that the city owed Mr. Lundgren $336,000 in interest. Wasilla's legal bill since the eminent domain action has come to roughly $250,000 so far, according to Mr. Klinkner, the city attorney.
Posted by amy at 11:31 AM
September 5, 2008
State Senator to hold eminent domain hearing September 17
Atlantic Yards Report
Harlem State Senator Bill Perkins, a critic of Columbia University's plans to use eminent domain, has announced a hearing on the practice of eminent domain in New York State, to be held on the morning of September 17. (In the afternoon that day, a state appellate court will hear oral arguments in the case challenging the Atlantic Yards environmental review).
It's likely Perkins is most interested in the Columbia case, the subject of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. It's also likely Atlantic Yards opponents will try to get on the witness list, especially because Perkins is interested in eminent domain used "at the behest of private developers" and which "at worst create[s] the impression of a corporatocracy instead of true democratic governance."
Can Perkins get anywhere? The State Senate is at this moment controlled by the Republicans, not Democrats like Perkins, but that could change in November. Still, all legislation must get through Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, an Atlantic Yards supporter who's unlikely to favor changes that hamper the project.
Whether legislation emerges from the hearing, it at least will cast some light on this complex and sometimes dubious practice.
Posted by lumi at 5:32 AM
Hearing on Columbia Plan Elicits Emotional Speeches
The NY Times
By Timothy Williams
The Empire State Development Corporation board this week held its only public hearing before it decides whether to use eminent domain to allow for the $6.3 billion expansion of Columbia University into Manhattanville.
But while the two-day hearing featured testimony from a former mayor, members of the State Legislature and the president of Columbia University, the group that will make the ultimate decision, the development corporation’s board, was not there.
Instead, a lone hearing officer, a lawyer named Edward C. Kramer, listened stoically to more than 13 hours of often emotional testimony.
The public hearing, which was held on Tuesday and Thursday, followed a pattern: Speakers who were employed by, seeking employment with or otherwise had business ties to the university came out in support of the plan. Most other speakers opposed it.
...
Some speakers pointed to the absence of the development corporation’s board members at the public hearing as a sign that the agency had already decided to grant the university eminent domain rights.But Warner Johnston, a spokesman for the development corporation, said it was the agency’s practice to hire a hearing officer during eminent domain testimony rather than having the board listen to testimony firsthand to ensure that “the process is as judicial and impartial as possible.”
Atlantic Yards Report, ESDC: hearing officer in Columbia case makes for "judicial and impartial" process
Norman Oder points out that the absence of Empire State Develop Corporation board officials at the Atlantic Yards hearings and subsequent vote had some unfortunate consequences:
No ESDC board member attended the Atlantic Yards public hearing two years ago, though ESDC staff members were there. ESDC board members, upon voting approval of the Atlantic Yards plan in December 2006, showed themselves to be rather uninformed.
NoLandGrab, reality check: The ESDC wants us to beleve that in order for the process to be "as judicial and impartial as possible," boardmembers do not attend the hearing, even though there's no evidence during the board vote that boardmembers read or understand any of the testimony. What's the point of having a hearing officer, if no one really gets heard?
This week's hearings illustrate that there's a total breakdown in the system to the point of absurdity.
Posted by lumi at 5:15 AM
September 3, 2008
Columbia University Has No Right to My Land
The Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
by Nick Sprayregen
Manhattanville property- and business-owner Nick Sprayregen's op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal explains how New York State somehow always manages to find "blight" when some uncooperative landowner doesn't want to sell.
Under New York state law, in order to condemn property the state first has to undertake a "neighborhood conditions study" and declare the area in question "blighted." Earlier this summer the state released its study, which concluded that Manhattanville is indeed "blighted." This gives the state the legal green light to condemn my four buildings and hand them over to the university.
The study's conclusion was unsurprising. Since the commencement of acquisitions in Manhattanville by Columbia, the school has made a solid effort to create the appearance of "blight." Once active buildings became vacant as Columbia either refused to renew leases, pressured small businesses to vacate, or made unreasonable demands that resulted in the businesses moving elsewhere. Columbia also let their holdings decay and left code violations unaddressed.
Only a few years ago, this area was undergoing a resurgence. Virtually all property was occupied, many by long-standing family operations such as my own. Now most of those businesses are gone -- forced out by the university. Still, Columbia has not been able to freeze all positive change in the neighborhood. Just in the past few years, three upscale restaurants have opened here. They seem to be thriving.
article [Subscription required — full article after the jump for non-subscribers]
The Neighborhood Retail Alliance, Nicking Columbia
Lobbyist Richard Lipsky, who's working on Nick Sprayregen's behalf, decries the unfairness of New York State's abuse of eminent domain, an abuse he's turned a blind eye toward in the case of one of his other clients — Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner.
The Wall St. Journal article, con'd:
In the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the government is permitted to take private property only for "public use."
This clause was once limited to true public projects such as the construction of highways, fire houses and public libraries. But over the last 50 years it has been bastardized by the powerful (in collusion with compliant politicians and the acquiescence of the courts) into a weapon used routinely to forcibly take other people's property for nonpublic uses. What is occurring in West Harlem today is a prime example of this abuse.
Columbia University, a private institution, officially announced its desire for a new campus five years ago. The university zeroed in on the Manhattanville area of Harlem -- between 125th and 134th Streets, and between Broadway and the Hudson River. Since that time, while wielding the sledgehammer of the possible use of eminent domain, Columbia has purchased roughly 80% of Manhattanville.
My family has owned for almost 30 years four commercial Manhattanville properties. We run a self-storage business, plus we lease to various large retailers such as a discount store and a supermarket. For over four years we have