In case you haven’t heard, oral arguments in the state eminent domain case concerning Atlantic Yards are being held on Monday, February 23. The hearing will take place in a session that starts at 10AM at the Supreme Court, State of New York; Appellate Division, Second Department; 45 Monroe Place. Brooklyn, NY. The case is […]

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The 11 property owners and tenants fighting the use of eminent domain for the troubled Atlantic Yards project have filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The petition asks the Court to hear the appeal of the eminent domain case, which was dismissed on February 1. Goldstein v. Pataki was originally filed in October […]

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“Affordable-housing activists in Brooklyn, N.Y., are proposing eminent domain be used to seize a prime piece of New York real estate from Pfizer Inc. Pfizer is the same company that inspired economic-development plans in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London after the pharmaceutical giant started building its Global Research & Development headquarters there nearly […]

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Yesterday was the last day for public comment in the (redone) eminent domain proceedings for a variety of properties in downtown Brooklyn. We got a copy of the comment submitted by Phil De Paolo of the New York Commmunity Council and thought we’d share a couple of short excerpts: We see a gross injustice taking […]

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The city held another hearing yesterday on its plans to seize property for development–including the Underground Railroad homes on Duffield Street–via eminent domain. The repeat hearing was held because the city had to withdraw its original findings because it “mistakenly” failed to enter a blight study into the public record during original an original hearing […]

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There’s another hearing today on the use of eminent domain in Downtown Brooklyn, including the taking of the Underground Railroad House on Duffield Street that advocates believe should be preserved. The hearings were announced very quietly, in a small ad in the New York Post on October 17, and Duffield Street Underground blog says that […]

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The Department of Housing Preservation and Development has formally approved the seizure via eminent domain of a number of buildings in Downtown Brooklyn, including the Underground Railroad Buildings on Duffield Street. The formal HPD action was reported by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A total of 21 properties were actually approved for seizure on different blocks, […]

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More than 100 opponents of what they call “epidemic abuse of eminent domain in New York City and New York State” gathered at City Hall yesterday to mark the second anniversary of a critical Supreme Court decision. The group included property owners, tenants, advocates and elected officials. “We haven’t seen this level of eminent domain […]

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While the focus has been on the big eminent domain issue surrounding the Atlantic Yards development, the are many, many such cases around Brooklyn and all of New York City right now. And so, the “Rally to Fight Eminent Domain Abuses” on the steps of City Hall tomorrow (6/27) at 1PM will provide everyone with […]

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There are more developments to report in the ongoing saga of the very threatened Underground Railroad buildings on Duffield Street. As reported on Brownstoner and in amNY yesterday, a lawsuit has been against Mayor Bloomberg and the city–which want to take the buidings via eminent domain in order to building an underground parking garage–alleging they […]

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The tale of the houses on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn said to have been part of the Underground Railroad, has taken another very, very curious turn. One of the homes–the one in which Joy Chatel, one of the leaders of the fight to stop the seizure of the buildings via eminent domain and to […]

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The focus at Brooklyn eminent domain hearing on Tuesday was the Underground Railroad Houses on Duffield Street, but Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporter Sarah Ryley reports another pending taking of property that would otherwise fly under the radar screen. In this case, the city would like to seize property at 95 Rockwell Place and clear the […]

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