New York to use eminent domain to build a basketball stadium
by ilene - November 27th, 2009 7:52 pm
New York to use eminent domain to build a basketball stadium
Courtesy of Edward Harrison at Credit Writedowns
The New York State Court of Appeals has ruled that the Atlantic Yards basketball project can go forward as planned, dislocating the residents in the Brooklyn, NY area where the stadium is to be built. In essence, the decision means the state can evict you from your own home, seize your property, and give you what it believes is a fair price without your consent to build a sports arena. The power of the state is breathtaking.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
New York’s highest court ruled that it is lawful for the state to seize private land for use by private developers, clearing a hurdle for a new basketball arena and marking a victory for local governments hoping to spur development.
Tuesday’s 6-1 ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the contentious $4.9 billion, 22-acre Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn to proceed. The project, being developed by Forest City Ratner Cos., could eventually include office towers and apartments as well as an arena for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets.
The decision is a blow to private-property owners who have argued that they are defenseless in protecting their ownership rights once a government deems their land necessary for eminent domain, or the "public good." But it boosts developers and government entities in New York that have sought to boost local economies by offering incentives for private developers.
The court’s decision echoes one handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, when the justices found it was constitutional for a New London, Conn., economic-development corporation to seize private homes and businesses to build a research campus for Pfizer Inc. That decision, Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., set off a firestorm of protest, prompting many lawmakers around the country to amend laws to prevent governments from seizing private land in some cases. New York, however, didn’t change its constitution.
In Tuesday’s decision, the New York appeals-court judges ruled that the constitution allows the state entity to seize the downtown Brooklyn land to improve blighted conditions. The land owners had argued that the area was a stable neighborhood, and wasn’t blighted.
But the court ruled that if