Saturday, October 10, 2009

Eminent domain abuse rampant in New York State

This came courtesy of No Land Grab:

From the Institute for Justice:

New York is one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to abusing eminent domain for private gain, according to the Institute for Justice, which tracks such abuses nationwide.

The Institute for Justice, which litigated the infamous Kelo eminent domain case before the U.S. Supreme Court, today released a report that documents example after example where government officials across the Empire State used eminent domain not to create projects that would be owned and used by the public—such as a courthouse or post office—but, rather, to create private development that would financially benefit politically powerful private developers.

The report, “Building Empires, Destroying Homes: Eminent Domain Abuse in New York,” states, “Over the past decade, a host of government jurisdictions and agencies statewide have condemned or threatened to condemn homes and small businesses for the New York Stock Exchange, The New York Times, IKEA, Costco, and Stop & Shop. An inner-city church lost its future home to eminent domain for commercial development that never came to pass. Scores of small business owners have been threatened with seizure for a private university in Harlem and for office space in Queens and Syracuse. Older homes were on the chopping block near Buffalo, simply so newer homes could be built. From Montauk Point to Niagara Falls, every community in the Empire State is subject to what the U.S. Supreme Court has accurately called the ‘despotic power.’”

A copy of the report is available at: http://www.ij.org/BuildingEmpires.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

THEFT. NO OTHER EXCUSE.

Suzannah B. Troy artist said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08TBpWxSm_8

Excellent piece. Put that in the context of The New York eminent domain Times not want to report the news and schilling for Mike Bloomberg and socialite mega millionaire city planner Amanda Burden and their friends NYU and Cooper Union who don't need to abuse eminent domain and Columbia U. that abused eminent domain to move the entire neighborhood of Manhattanville out.

I covered a rally with a series of youtubes but look at my newest on Mike Bloomberg's money manager Steve Rattner who happens to be best friends with the new york times owner and his money manager. Rattner's business Quadrangle is implicated in pension scandals in three states one being New York.

We are lucky the new york times reported any of this although most New Yorkers don't seem to know about this and Bloomberg's latest mailer attacks Bill Thompson for pension mess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08TBpWxSm_8

Anonymous said...

First, they came for the tenants and you all sat back & did nothing,saying that has nothing to do with me.

Now they come for the property owners and what? you want me to cry for them?

In theory I agree w/ the article, but in reality... remember that the homeless people in the subway are the canaries in the coal mine, folks!

You turn your nose from the canaries, and you will be next!