Dear Mr. Lieber,With a month to go before the Willets Point redevelopment plan comes before the City Council for consideration, I am greatly concerned that the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has reached agreement with only a small number of the existing businesses with regard to the City's plans for relocation and/or compensation. Even more problematic is my understanding that the agreements reached are non-binding on the EDC.
The EDC and this administration have consistently maintained that "one or two holdouts" should not impede progress. I can agree with that approach and application of eminent domain to condemn private property for greater public good. However, it appears at the moment that almost everyone at Willets Point is a "holdout". At the moment, it appears the plan would invoke eminent domain to seize over 90% of properties at Willets Point.
This is patently indefensible. I implore you and the EDC to kick negotiations into high gear immediately.
After two years of what the City has described as "best efforts", more binding agreements should have already been reached. Nonetheless, it's not too late. There's still a month left for negotiations. Engage the business owners 'round the clock if need be. Just don't ask me and my colleagues to support a plan that would take land wholesale.
Good public policy sometimes necessitates invoking eminent domain to make progress. Coming to agreement for the acquisition of 90% of the land for this redevelopment and condemning the remaining holdouts probably makes sense. Seizing 90% of the land would be wrong an inexcusable, and I cannot in good conscience support a plan that amounts to that.
I am available to assist you and the EDC in any discussions and negotiations to get the job done.
Sincerely,
John C. Liu
Council Member
20th District
31 comments:
great letter ,show this to chris mcidiot!! this is the truth on whats happening yet the city tries to lie and cover it up with a video by claire and a job bus wow. there should be an investigation into the way the city is handeling these negotiations. i hear they are offering 40% of value on the land and trying to make up the difference on their land to come even . but in the end they set a precedent of low prices to use in eminent domain. shame on mcshane, shame on the edc, shame on claire ,shame on billionaireburg . john liu is correct and this plan will never pass. give the people waht they been paying for!! you can't avoid it
Interesting how Liu's letter tells Leiber to accelerate the negotiations, but at the same time telegraphs to property owners that if they collectively stall the negotiations then Liu and others will not approve the project, because it would require use of eminent domain for other than 10% "holdouts".
All property owners who want to kill this project must now cease negotiations, so that the Council will vote "No" due to a required, inappropriate use of eminent domain.
Me thinks this is part of the delay in announcing deals
of course to negotiate in good faith is enough to justify the city using eminent domain to acquire the land
Leave it to Liu to speak from both sides of his mouth!
Seems like a fairly reasonable approach. If there are a few hold outs, less than 10% say, then using ED would likely be more acceptable to the public. To take a large portion of the land using ED would be very hard to justify.
Thanks for the explanation, Evan.
but if landowners are banding together to hold out en masse - as is suggested above - then the case for ED would be easy to justify.
No, it isn't -- read Liu's letter. He's opposed to the use of eminent domain for the proposed redevelopment if it is to be used to acquire property from a very large number of "hold-outs." It matters not whether those "hold-outs" have negotiated with the City prior to becoming "hold-outs." Indeed, by definition, a "hold-out" won't agree to a sale.
http://irontriangletracker.com/2008/10/08/sweeping-eminent-domain-use-indefensible-liu/#comments
Where does the money come from that Commissar Death and taxes plans to use to pay the Willets Point private property owners?
Taxpayers' pockets.
Payment to the private property owners, PLUS at least $3 BILLION to his favored wealthy developers to make and KEEP any and all profits.
If the plan fails, as so many of the Commissar Dear Leader's plans have failed, the taxpayers get to pick up that tab.
Here's how it works for Dear Leader: You pay all the bills. You take all the risks. His developer pals get all the profit. Dear Leader gets all the kickbacks.
Dear Leader and his developer buddies tell you taxpayers to go shit in your hats.
Taxpayers' pockets. Piggy banks for Commissar Death and Taxes and his dearest wealthy developer cronies.
But, the Commissar Dear Leader says that the budget is in desperate straits.
Well, taxpayers, that will be your problem, entirely.
Isn't it obvious that we must dump this thief and any other office holder who aids him?
Don't be fooled by this son of a crook (daddy Joseph Liu was convicted of bank fraud) or by his overnight conversion from bum to the peoples' champion.
C.M. Liu is being booted out of office by term limits and is seeking the comptroller's job!
Hence his careful scrutiny scenario
to gain faith with the voters that he's our man to guard NYC's pocketbook!
"ELECT THE SON OF A BANK ROBBER
FOR COMPTROLLER" ought to be his campaign slogan!
JOHN LIU SPEAK WITH FORKED TONGUE!
Can I show you something in a fine British woven Harris "TWEED" sport coat made in China?
Not a bad job after my city council gig got canceled.
Wasn't Harry Truman a haberdasher?
John Liu drinks Melamine laced milk
and plays with lead painted toys.
His brain ain't runnin' smoothly
so don't trust his words.
They're put in his mouth by "Parkside" ayway.
The bottom line...."to get the job done". The creation of Wellington Pointe continues.
I'm surprised by all the hating on John Liu. I thought he was a pretty decent guy and usually comes down on the right side of issues, including this one. I did not know that about his father.
Did you know that while Daddy (the Bank Robber) was stealing from the low income residents of Queens sonny boy Johnny was taking campaign contributions from that very bank (employees) so that he could represent those very same low income residents?
Did you know that Johnny wanted to honor the bigot Sonny Carson by naming a New York City Street after him?
There is, and can be, one reason and only one reason that he would do such a thing as I see it, the man is a bigot himself.
Here is a portion of an article on that dirtball Sonny Carson from the Daily News of April 14, 07
he was convicted of kidnapping and attempted murder and served a stretch in prison.
Carson's backers claim this is when he changed, devoting his life to fighting drugs and police brutality. But those who followed his career knew otherwise.
In 1990, Carson personally led the campaign of boycott and physical intimidation against Korean-owned delis in Brooklyn's black neighborhoods, marching with signs that read, "Don't Shop With People Who Don't Look Like Us."
Defy the boycott and you were spat upon and threatened: "In the future," he said, "there'll be funerals, not boycotts."
A year later, he hailed the Crown Heights lynch mob that killed Hasidic scholar Yankel Rosenbaum, saying he was "very proud" of what had happened.
Accused of anti-Semitism, he replied: "I'm anti-white - don't limit my anti's to one group of people."
Carson proved that when he mourned the death of Khalid Abdul Muhammad - a demagogue so odious even Louis Farrakhan disavowed him - by praising him as "a fighter."
bottom line willets point will not become wellinton point and the city will loose in court and have to give the people what they been paying taxes for and evan will be crying on claires lap and all the people at edc & city hall ( thats right you pinsky & goldrich ) will be booted in the ass for a job well done. you can always work at parkside !! they hire all the liars anyway
john liu is right on
And, don't forget, John Liu is alleged to be related to the notorious Huang family.
It's pretty pathic when the best way you can attack Liu is by going after his father and making allegations of a rumor that you heard from someone who told you about a guy who told his wife's cousin that Liu may be related to Huang.
In the US, thankfully, the son is not responsible for the sins of the dad or alleged cousins. I realize this might not be so in the country you're from.
THE APPLE DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE.
THE SINS OF THE FATHER ARE VISITED UPON THE SON!
In lieu of real representation we get Liu and his close ties to developers!
Take off your rose colored glasses and do some serious research into the
Liu/Huang family connection!
You'll be surprised at how quickly photo-op John loses his shine!
It seems that Stavisky/"Parkside" are busy defending their favorite finger puppet C.M. Liu again.
Toby, please be gentle with your index finger up my sphincter.
I'm willing to be a clubhouse finger puppet but puh-l-e-e-z-e it smarts!
If it makes you happy to believe that everyone who disagrees with you is somehow connected to Stavisky or Parkside -- go right ahead and see the world through YOUR rose colored glasses.
And just what is this Liu-Huang connection? I've seen people write it's b/c Huang's wife's name is Liu too. That's a pretty weak argument since "Liu" is about as common as "Smith."
who cares about lius cousin or father or sister!! willets point is not going to happen with or without liu's father
It was John Liu, (not daddy the bank robber) who wanted to name a New York City Street after a criminal and a thug. I have no doubt that he did this because he is a bigot.
It was also John Liu, not daddy the bank robber who was taking campaign contributions from the employees of the bank being robbed (by daddy the bank robber who also happened to be the President of the bank).
So it's not the sins of the father but the evil of the son that is at issue here.
why because he opposes willets point?
madalene wills is as desparate as your boy johnny . what about her
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