From the Daily News:If the city's controversial plan to develop Williamsburg's Broadway Triangle goes forward, at least six small businesses will get the boot - and others will be left with an uncertain future.
While the loudest battles over the plan to build 1,895 low-rise apartments on the 31-acre Triangle site have been over the allegations of political corruption, little attention has been focused on the fate of the existing small businesses in the area.
"I'm just living in limbo," said Ernie Wong, 33, whose family owns Shanghai Stainless Product & Design Co. on Gerry St. and employs 19 people.
The Triangle, located on the border between Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant, is one of a dwindling number of areas in the city zoned for manufacturing.
The city plans to use eminent domain to force five property owners to sell. Another 14 businesses could be displaced by zoning rules that will limit their activities.
Wong, whose immigrant parents started the restaurant equipment business in 1989, received a letter in July from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development informing him that if the development plan goes through, it "would authorize the City to acquire your property."
"The streets were rampant [then] with drug dealers, prostitutes, crack vials on the floor. "Now that the area's much nicer, the city wants to come in," he said. "It's wrong."
HPD officials said displaced businesses will get help finding new space and paying relocation expenses. But the agency said the details won't be worked out until the plan gets final approval from the City Council.
Opponents charge the land was handed over to two politically connected nonprofits without a fair bidding process. They say Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and the Hasidic group United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg used their ties to Brooklyn Democratic boss Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D-Williamsburg) to be tapped as developers. Lopez and the groups have denied the allegation.
From BushwickBK:
This city’s government has its policies backwards: they generally ban market-driven conversion of industrial space for residential use, while in other areas, like Red Hook’s waterfront and now the Broadway Triangle, they push out thriving manufacturing and distribution in favor of grand urban renewal plans for the wealthy and low-income alike.
6 comments:
This story is false on its face.
How do I know?
Because the Commissar is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to say he loves the middle class.
Why would he spend that much money to lie to us?
The Commissar would never lie just to get an another, illegal third term. After 4 more years as Commissar, all he'd have is another $4.
The Commissar would never take private property and businesses from middle class owners just to then give it to extremely wealthy developer cronies. And, it's all lies that the developers give kickbacks to the Commissar.
Neither the Commissar nor the extremely wealthy developers would ever expect the taxpayers to assume any of the risk in new development. The Commissar and the developers both understand that if they are to profit from the planned project, then they must assume the risk entirely.
If the developers really wanted the private property for their own profit, they would negotiate with the current owners and pay a fair price to them. The developers would probably even offer to make the current owners shareholders in whatever is built over the current property and businesses.
That's because the Commissar and his extremely wealthy developer cronies totally understand the nature of capitalism and respect the fact that the current private property owners and businessmen took all the risks for their business without demanding that the taxpayer share that risk.
If the current owners refused to sell, or demanded too high a price, these developers would simply take their money and try somewhere else.
Developers would never pay the Commissar to apply a power illegally just to bypass negotiation with legitimate, middle class owners. NEVER! Anyway, the Commissar would never ask for or accept dirty money like that.
The Commissar really, really loves the middle class. Far too much to harm any member of that class.
The Commissar knows how hard his beloved middle class works for their families.
Take back all the wicked things said about the Commissar!
Apologize to the Commissar!
When he needs your property, just hand it over and find a subway tunnel to live in.
These people are like Robert Moses but without the talent.
Vote for Norman Siegel for Public Advocate. He is against eminent domain.
Vote for Tony Avella for Mayor. This illegal theft of private property for profitable use by other private parties will end.
The Commissar is clearly a kleptomaniac.
We need an honest, intelligent mayor to manage the city agencies.
That person is Tony Avella.
Doubt that at your own peril.
Between a powerful political boss, and a politically active religious group, these property owners stand no chance!
And of course as Jane Jacobs said in another context having something declared "Blight" causes blight. Once the future is unknown, new investment is chocked off.
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