Monday, January 8, 2018

City taking owner's business for peanuts


From the Daily News:

New York City is using eminent domain to take an East Harlem businessman to the cleaners.

Damon Bae, whose family success story embodies the American Dream, is about to lose the shirt off his back — after a 12-year battle with the city for control of his dry cleaning enterprise.

Fancy Cleaners, a 6,000-square-foot facility at the corner of 126th St. and Third Ave., was supposed to be the cornerstone of a family empire built by a Korean couple who came to the U.S. in 1981, bringing their tailoring skills with them along with two young children and endless ambition.

But an eminent domain claim filed by the city in 2008 and enforced — after years of legal challenges — in March 2017 means Bae’s family no longer owns its premier property.

Now Fancy Cleaners has nowhere to go, and the whole enterprise will likely shutter, said Bae, 42, who runs the business created through decades of hard work by his immigrant parents.

“The city has offered my family about 30 cents on the dollar on the market value for what our three lots are worth — that’s not enough to buy anything comparable in East Harlem today,” Bae said. “The city’s working so hard to meet the developer’s timeline; meanwhile, we’re trying to stay in business.”

The city said it would pay the Bae family $3.5 million for the lot holding Fancy Cleaners when it took the property title through eminent domain in the spring, Bae said.

The asking price for a similar 5,000-square-foot lot about five blocks south of Fancy Cleaners’ current location is $11 million, Bae said.

29 comments:

(sarc) said...

One can thank Justice David Hackett Souter and his deciding vote.

Send in the SWAT team for the eviction!

Government, with ideas so great that they must be enforced by the point of a gun...

JQ LLC said...

What a rotten development. And I am not referring to what will certainly displace that honest essential business. Here you have a great and successful business and contributor to the city and community, and because of the gentrification industrial complex of government and real estate, actually government obscequience to real estate they are being forced out and systematically destroyed through the court. It's revolting that a judge can't even see this for the property plundering it is.

Anonymous said...

"Eminent domain in the United States refers to the power of a state or the federal government to take private property for public use.." -- Wikipedia
How is taking private property and giving it to a private developer "public use?"
I thought this means to build a public school or similar public usage.

Rob in Manhattan said...

"The asking price for a similar 5,000-square-foot lot about five blocks south...."

Asking price means nothing.

What the city is doing here is lousy but, he is still getting 3.5 Mil. If he is smart with it, he and his family won't have to work anymore.

georgetheatheist said...

30 cents on the dollar? I always thought the market value was to be paid, no?

Help me here.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, that creep on Cooper Avenue in Glendale who keeps trying to turn his property into a homeless shelter owes millions in back taxes and the city wouldn’t take the property in eminent domain to make a school in the very overcrowded District 24.

Joe Moretti said...

AND what does the so-called "liberal progressive" Dem Mayor have to say about this or any of the hack city council members.

Another big FUCK YOU to hard working people.

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely ridiculous. I support eminent domain if a road or a hospital needs to be constructed, but to take private land away to give to a developer to build housing is complete nonsense.

We all need to wake up and realize what is going on here, because the city will keep doing this to other people if they are allowed to get away with it. Since there is no more land left in the city to build on, and the greedy developers and real estate people control city hall, they will start saying everywhere is blighted just to justify an eminent domain give away to the developers.

If we don't put a stop to this, don't be surprised if in a few years they say a section of 1 or 2 family houses is "blighted" because they can put a 10 story apartment building there instead, and then try to justify it saying that its affordable housing.

We are now seeing the consequences of one party liberal democrat rule. There is no check to the power of the government. They can do whatever they please. Everyone is in complete lockstep and agreement; the mayors office, city council, and judges they appoint. Even most of the media, who is supposed to hold the government's feet to the fire, allows this all to happen with out much questioning (except our beloved Queens Crap, who does a great job).

Everyone in this city is so worked up about Trump that they are not realizing the complete damage being done by our inept city and state government. People in this city need to wake the hell up and start realizing and caring what is going on, or their property is going to be next.

TommyR said...

"rotten development" couldn't be more apt, JQ! saw this on the papers front page yesterday...a shame this hard working guy can't contest this further. dumBlah's wonderful socialistic impulses in full view...

SickofTheBS said...

Eminent domain is commonly used in many third world countries and dictatorships. I was watching a documentary about a Chinese man who was being forced by the government to sell his home to make way for an office and shopping mall complex. In the city of New York it is no different. Even in the Reagan days, people of both political spectrums thought it was an evil practice that discriminated against less wealthy individuals in favor of powerful corporations and business interests. Anyway at least China has world class infrastructure and some of the most modern cities on the planet, look at New York, the so called "Greatest City on Earth", that is one big giant joke.

Anonymous said...

He will take the property and give it to the Action Network run by Fat Al for affordable housing. I wonder if they took one of his political cronnies property he would do the same.

Anonymous said...

Quoting Justice Clarence Thomas in Kelo vs. New London:

Allowing the government to take property solely for public purposes is bad enough, but extending the concept of public purpose to encompass any economically beneficial goal guarantees that these losses will fall disproportionately on poor communities. Those communities are not only systematically less likely to put their lands to the highest and best social use, but are also the least politically powerful.

Anonymous said...

The repercussions of the horrible Kelo v. New London decision still reverberate.
Almost every single state has passed laws since then, to ensure that eminent domain would not be abused for the profit of well connected developers. But in New York state, the developers are too well connected. And successful tax-paying businesses are being destroyed so the richest can get richer. So much for our "progressive" mayor.

Anonymous said...

This is THEFT !
Just imagine how bad it will be should the governor gets to grab all the legal firearms and premises permits. Including a property grab from some old dude who worked all his life to own a property being told hes gonna be tossed in the street if he does not accept a dime for every dollar he invested all these years.
These people need to fight this, perhaps bring 1000 Asians to the mayors house and make a big scene.

Anonymous said...

""he is still getting 3.5 Mil""
Im told because he bought cheap a LONG time ago if he DOESN'T buy another place in under 6 months the government will take HALF that 3.5 million via capital gains and other tax's. (It be different if he just bought the structure)
Remember this is a blue collar working stiff family not H&R Crocks, lawyer-politician's who knows how to steal & hide money.

3.5 Mil (around 1.4 mil take home) is sh_t for a corner lot that size, isn't that zoned commercial too ?
What can he find equal (land an building) to that location and neighborhood without moving to Jamaica or east bumblefuck Ohio or PA
A: NOTHING !

If the city gets away with this grab what stop them from coming for all those small private homes, garages, alleys in Glendale & Maspeth. The ones grandma & grampa bought for under $30K pre 1970s ?
This is a double steal, they get to steal your house, business & land then get to take 1/2 the shitty payment back.

I get it now: The mayor is setting up a precedent to hit you over the head with a hammer and steal like they do in Denmark when the socialists feel you not sharing or using your property or rooming to the maximum. !!

JQ LLC said...

"How is taking private property and giving it to a private developer "public use?""

A cancer research center is planned for the sites. That's the public use part that the developers and the city is exploiting to build fraudulent affordable housing.

Ms. Tsouris said...

It shows you how far fascism has crept into what was our government. Now it belongs to the corporations and their evil inhumane minions. This is downright tyrannical, no different than Russia or China. This is very far from the original intent of eminent domain.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe something like this could happen in the United States !

Anonymous said...

And we call this Democracy and trying to spread the Banana Republic Democracy around the world.
You can't make this shit up.

(sarc) said...

George

We can agree!!!

JQ LLC said...

That 30 cents on the dollar reminds me of the scene in "it's a wonderful life" when the Bedford Building and Loan was swarmed by customers demanding their savings and that scumbag Potter offered them 50 cents on the dollar for their money back.

Other than that pop culture analogy, the gutless lying de Faustio and his rotten city lawyers pulling this stunt is a demented form of reverse socialism going to benefit the top more than anyone one who will see economic strife in the future. Look no further than the Stuy-town deal and the massive tax break for the new owners of the complex

Anonymous said...

So you mean they could save historic buildings by taking them over via eminent domain, paying the owner a fair price, and giving them over to a local group to run them for benefit of the community -

instead of letting a group of political insides develop and destroy the location and earn money at the community's expense?

hmmmmm....

RKO Keith, St Saviours, Steinway Mansion, Elks Club ...

Anonymous said...

Is there any way to find out how much $$$ deblahsio has in Swiss /offshore accounts?

Anonymous said...

Anybody see a reason in this story for the city to do this? I didn't. Lousy reporting.

Anonymous said...

Is there any way to find out how much $$$ deblahsio has in Swiss /offshore accounts?


Why stop there? there are all sorts of rumors of how a good portion of the politically connected (including elected officials) are financially involved in these projects destroying our communities. DeBlaz is really a small fish.

TommyR said...

^Anon: short of another Panama-Papers-esque reveal, doubtful. If anything, it's big the rich & powerful even more circumspect about how they move and hide their ill-gotten gains.

Anonymous said...

>Quoting Justice Clarence Thomas in Kelo vs. New London:

Something's wrong when Justice Thomas gives the most liberal opinion on a case.

Anonymous said...

Its WORSE then Banana Republic Democracy or China.
This is Scandinavian Socialism, given the chance with this Mayor, Governor and legislators they will be busting into your home and if they feel its not fully used TAKE IT on you or force you to take in tenants, bring tenants to you at gunpoint

Make no mistake it will come if things stay on the current path. Also keep in mind all these young MTV & Disneykid brainwashed people in colleges studying useless liberal arts & sciences want socialism and equal distribution of everything including your pensions and SS.
I think deep deep shit is coming for anybody who owns Private homes or property.

Anonymous said...

Anon said
So you mean they could save historic buildings by taking them over via eminent domain, paying the owner a fair price, and giving them over to a local group to run them for benefit of the community -
instead of letting a group of political insides develop and destroy the location and earn money at the community's expense?
hmmmmm....
RKO Keith, St Saviours, Steinway Mansion, Elks Club ...

After paying exorbitant fair value for the historic building and when the "historic" group has no money, volunteers or support then government pays forever for more white elephants
fleecing we the taxpayers even more or what will be cut to balance the budget
there r NEVER cuts!
it all sounds nice till someone has to pay