Forest City Ratner's huge (now half stalled) Atlantic Yards project has been controversial particularly with regard to the use (some would say abuse) of eminent domain. Today's WSJ has a brief opinion piece on it. Crain's also has an article on the lawsuit.
To sum: in the aftermath of the hotly debated Kelo vs. New London supreme court decision, 43 states have trimmed eminent domain powers-- but not New York. The debate has been over the seemingly ever-expanding purview of eminent domain. In some jurisdictions, governments can take property even with the loosest of justifications, as long as it can be interpreted to be 'in the public good', including something as simple as the proposed use will have a higher tax assessment than what's there before.
A rare political/legal/philosophical opinion from 21 elephants: Eminent domain was a tool intended to be applied with care. The bar must be set relatively high, as one of the foundations of our system was based on freedom from capricious & arbitrary infringements of personal and property rights. This principle has given the US a strong foundation for commerce (this, along with respect for the sanctity of contracts).
The most egregious use of eminent domain powers recently was in Long Branch, New Jersey, where, a few blocks from the beach, a bunch of older small houses occupied mainly by lower middle class and middle class residents were slated to be demolished and handed over to a developer for high-end condos. Swapping one residential use for another, but with the new proposed condos being a lot higher priced than what was there. Why waste a good locaiton three blocks from the beach?? Some cases are a lot blurrier, some issues more difficult and subtle, but this one smelled of abuse from day one.
This was so interesting that two years ago i drove out to Long Branch to have a look. I hadnt been there since the days of the "HAUNTED MANSION at Long Branch" back in the 1970's. Over the last decade, there had been massive redevelopment of the boardwalk area, with apartments condos and retail, and although it was a bit sterile, they did a nice enough job with it. Clearly Long Branch had decayed in the 70's and 80's and redevelopment was welcome. I also looked at the neighborhood in question- didn't look dilapidated to me.
The residents have been fighting this one in court for years and last month they finally won.
Anyway..Atlantic Yards is facing a court case this week. I'm not weighing in on Atlantic Yards specifically today, but i quote the WSJ:
"In Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, residents and business owners are challenging the state's use of eminent domain to condemn private property in a Brooklyn neighborhood for the benefit of a private developer....In eminent domain cases, the political class typically uses its power to help the strongest private interests against the weakest."
To sum: in the aftermath of the hotly debated Kelo vs. New London supreme court decision, 43 states have trimmed eminent domain powers-- but not New York. The debate has been over the seemingly ever-expanding purview of eminent domain. In some jurisdictions, governments can take property even with the loosest of justifications, as long as it can be interpreted to be 'in the public good', including something as simple as the proposed use will have a higher tax assessment than what's there before.
A rare political/legal/philosophical opinion from 21 elephants: Eminent domain was a tool intended to be applied with care. The bar must be set relatively high, as one of the foundations of our system was based on freedom from capricious & arbitrary infringements of personal and property rights. This principle has given the US a strong foundation for commerce (this, along with respect for the sanctity of contracts).
The most egregious use of eminent domain powers recently was in Long Branch, New Jersey, where, a few blocks from the beach, a bunch of older small houses occupied mainly by lower middle class and middle class residents were slated to be demolished and handed over to a developer for high-end condos. Swapping one residential use for another, but with the new proposed condos being a lot higher priced than what was there. Why waste a good locaiton three blocks from the beach?? Some cases are a lot blurrier, some issues more difficult and subtle, but this one smelled of abuse from day one.
This was so interesting that two years ago i drove out to Long Branch to have a look. I hadnt been there since the days of the "HAUNTED MANSION at Long Branch" back in the 1970's. Over the last decade, there had been massive redevelopment of the boardwalk area, with apartments condos and retail, and although it was a bit sterile, they did a nice enough job with it. Clearly Long Branch had decayed in the 70's and 80's and redevelopment was welcome. I also looked at the neighborhood in question- didn't look dilapidated to me.
The residents have been fighting this one in court for years and last month they finally won.
Anyway..Atlantic Yards is facing a court case this week. I'm not weighing in on Atlantic Yards specifically today, but i quote the WSJ:
"In Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, residents and business owners are challenging the state's use of eminent domain to condemn private property in a Brooklyn neighborhood for the benefit of a private developer....In eminent domain cases, the political class typically uses its power to help the strongest private interests against the weakest."
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