Rally to Fight Eminent Domain Abuses
Wednesday, June 27, 1pm. City Hall Steps.
“If You Can Take It Here, You’ll Take It Anywhere – New York, NY”
EVENT:
New York City Property Owners, Tenants and Advocates Unite to Fight Eminent Domain Abuse After Second Anniversary of Infamous U.S. Supreme Court Kelo Decision
TIME/DATE: 1PM, Wednesday, June 27
PLACE: City Hall Steps
PARTICIPANTS:
Home and business owners, and tenants from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; Duffield St., Brooklyn; West Harlem, Manhattan; Willets Point, Queens;
Councilmembers Tony Avella and Letitia James;
and activists from:
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn
NoLandGrab.org
Willets Point Business Association
Historic Districts Council
New York Community Council
Society for the Architecture of the City
Harlem Tenants Council
Coalition to Preserve Community
West Harlem Coalition
550 Riverside, 55/69 Tiemann Pl. Tenants Alliance
Duffield Street Block Association
Green Party of Brooklyn
Park Slope Greens
United Neighbors for Brooklyn
Atlantic Avenue Betterment Association
Brownstone Revival Coalition
…and more.
New York, NY — Marking the second-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous decision in Kelo v. New London, which gave the nod to the City of New London to use eminent domain to take homes for a private development, home and business owners, and tenants in New York City are banding together to raise public awareness that New York City has become one of the worst abusers of eminent domain and that no one’s home or business is safe when the City or a developer is interested in “assembling land” for private development.
“Eminent domain abuse is an abuse of our civil rights. New York State has a reputation of being one of the worst abusers of eminent domain in the nation. In New York City, it’s reaching epidemic proportions. We haven’t seen this level of eminent domain abuse since the days of Robert Moses,” said Lumi Michelle Rolley of NolandGrab.org. “With eminent domain abuse as policy it is no surprise that New York is one of only a handful of states that has failed to reform its eminent domain laws since the infamous Kelo Supreme Court decision two years ago.”
“Mayor Bloomberg and the State of New York consistently favor the interest of big developers over that of regular citizens,” said Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s Daniel Goldstein. “The Bloomberg Administration’s policy has been to misuse and abuse eminent domain, with the support New York state and this policy has gone too far. We’re taking a stand, not just for ourselves, but for all New Yorkers who believe in the American dream and the importance of homes and businesses.
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn leads a broad-based community coalition advocating for development that will unite our communities instead of dividing and destroying them. DDDB opposes Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards’ abuse of eminent domain. DDDB has organized owner and tenant plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit charging that eminent domain for Atlantic Yards violates the US. Constitution. Like the other neighborhoods, phoney “blight” findings were used to justify the eminent domain abuse.
Joy Chatel and Lew Greenstein are fighting to save their historic homes on Duffield St. in Brooklyn. Their homes were part of the Underground Railroad network and are under threat of demolition to make way for a hotel parking garage. A lawsuit has been filed contesting the accuracy of the City’s study, which determined that the historical significance of the homes could not be proven.
Property owners and tenants in West Harlem are battling to keep their homes and businesses from Columbia University’s expansion of their uptown campus. Since the project was unveiled the university has refused to take eminent domain off the table. The application for review under the city’s land-use procedure was just approved by the City Planning Commission.
Once again, Willets Point Queens businesses and a longtime resident are under threat of eminent domain. For decades the City has failed to provide basic services to this neighborhood. Despite the municipal neglect, the area is the location of hundreds of successful businesses that the City is seeking to displace.
NoLandGrab is an information portal run by several private citizens to increase awareness of the Atlantic Yards fight and eminent domain battles citywide.