Goldstein et al. File Suit Over AY Eminent Domain
Three homeowners, along with six renters and the owner of Freddy’s Bar, sued Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and Bruce Ratner in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn yesterday over the “misuse of government’s power to take property by eminent domain.” The Atlantic Yards proposal is premised on the abuse of eminent domain, said Matthew D. Brinckerhoff,…
Three homeowners, along with six renters and the owner of Freddy’s Bar, sued Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and Bruce Ratner in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn yesterday over the “misuse of government’s power to take property by eminent domain.” The Atlantic Yards proposal is premised on the abuse of eminent domain, said Matthew D. Brinckerhoff, the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer. It would mean the taking of one citizen’s property to benefit a powerful and influential private citizen, he said. The suit also claims that the politicians and developer failed to seek adequate community input. According to the NY Post, Mayor Bloomberg laughed when asked about the suit’s chances of stopping the project. “The Atlantic Yards project is something that Brooklyn, and this city, really needs,” he said. What do you think the suit’s impact will be?
Groups Aiming to Block AY Cite Eminent Domain [NY Law Journal]
Suit Against AY Challenges Eminent Domain [NY Times]
Suit Seeks to Dunk Arena [NY Post]
AY Project Abuses Eminent Domain, Suit Says [NY Sun]
Legal Shot Fired in Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards Fight [Curbed]
Photo by threecee
“Plaintiffs have a great case, and the defendants know it.”
yes, opponents have had a great case from the beginning – its matter of how ethical the judge is, at this point.
It’s hard to take some of these nutballs seriously about anything when they can’t use simple grammer correctly. Even my humble public school education taught me the difference between “there” – a place, and “their” – a possessive. “Know it all’s” should know when to use a posessive apostrophe. This is not one of those times. John Smith, get back to the classroom.
Huh?
Finally the liberals are seeing first hand that there beloved NYT is a propaganda machine which reports half truths. The mainstream media brainwashes the oh so intellectual know it all’s. They are doing it with respect to AY and it goes all the way down the line with respect to there other news reporting. Now the liberals are hoping the conservative Supreme justices will side with them since there liberal justices sent them up the river with there Kelo ruling. For all you liberal, secular non-believer know it all’s, start praying to the almighty that the US Supreme Court gets this case on there desk. That way Bush appointed justices and Thomas and Scalia assist you in your cause. Oh I savor that day liberals beg and plead for the conservatives to help them in there cause.
For all of those who despise the regular everyday brooklyn resident taxpayers who are actually invoking their right and duty to question the legality (and ethics) of the actions of Pataki, Bloomberg, Doctoroff, etc….(ya know, the people whom you and I actually pay and entrust to make decisions in the best interest of the public.) Let us now repeat the essentials of the Goldstein vs. AY case:
*Private developers cannot invoke or collude with others in government to invoke eminent domain to force unwilling owners to sell. (It was ratner’s idea, never the idea of any elected official.)
*The project has not been proven to be necessary, nor proven to be of benefit for the immediate area. (the area is already revitalizing itself through the private sector.) In fact, it can easily be argued that the project will have a negative financial impact on those who already own property near the site, for many different reasons.
*Another government agency that you and I pay for, The MTA, acted in bad faith (um, collusion perhaps?) when it undersold the air rights above the yards without competitive bidding. A sizable amount of taxpayer’s money was left on the table (or in ratner’s pocket, take your pick.)
*There has been no meaningful public review of the environmental impact of the project, nor on infrastructure, traffic, security risks, schools, etc.
*There is no guarantee that any affordable units will ever be built, and if they are, it might be many years from the time the project starts.
*The City’s definition or criteria to be eligible for the “affordable housing” component is a joke. (Mostly rich people will live there, accelerating the negative aspects of gentrification.)
*The City’s definition of “blighted” is a joke.
The real beneficiaries of the project, at taxpayer’s expense, will be Ratner, FCRC, The Architect, The General Contractor, The Sub-Contractors, and the Corporate businesses who will move into the project when complete.
Plaintiffs have a great case, and the defendants know it.
I think they are civil liberties groups who want to keep their property and not have the government seize it to give it to a private individual for profit and I have a hard time disagreeing with that. If Ratner wants to build a stadium let him buy property from people willing to sell. Let him use his own mall and office building. Don’t try to steal other people’s property.
Agreed Chuckies and Marshall’s may not really capture the fabric of the borough but in all fairness the site is ugly. Sorry homeowners who bought there. The only people I feel sory for are the poor who rented in the area. As once I wrote , do they get money? Is it just Goldberg? It is ugly and it only has the chance of looking better (we hope). Nothing about it now looks good. Get a grip. dddB or DDDb is basically similar to civil liberties groups who end up wanting to dictate on to the rest of us under the guise of “our rights”. They always are white, middle class and in some way privilidged. I challenge you Mr. Goldberg to give your proceeds to the poor once you get paid. Put the money where your mouths are.
here’s a question for the board: If the area around the yards is so blighted then why can’t Ratner eminant domain his own atlantic center and atlantic mall sites? These two eyesores have been a blight on the neighborhood since they were built! Ratner is a chucky cheese boy from out of town and is totally out of touch with Brooklyn’s urban fabric and visual language. For all you pro AY, your neighborhood is going to look like an ghastly mashup of metrotech with madison square garden. Look at Ratner’s track record! He wants Brooklyn to look like a mall in Cleveland. Why a guy with so much money would want to keep foistering ugliness and ill conceived projects on the world is beyond me. Look at the beauty and ingenuity that small scale development has achieved throughout the city. Mega projects always end up cutting corners – I wouldn’t be suprised if Ratner replaces Ghery with a cheaper alternative.
Its interesting that the pro-Ratner posters used to try to argue on the merits of the project, but now just post things like ‘done deal’ because the overwhelming evidence is against the project on many, many grounds. So they are left with meaningless phrases like ‘done deal’.