City Hall "Rally Against Eminent Domain Abuses" Tomorrow

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 a sort of who's who in the world of people trying to avoid having their property taken by the government. The rally is being held to mark the second-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 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.

"Eminent domain abuse is an abuse of our civil rights," says Lumi Michelle Rolley of No Land Grab, which chronicles eminent domain news locally and from around the nation. "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. 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."

"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," says Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's Daniel Goldstein, whose condo would have to be seized in order to allow the Atlantic Yards project to move forward and who has become the public face of the opposition to the project. "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."

Among the 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. Also, activists from: Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, No Land Grab, 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 and the Brownstone Revival Coalition.

You can find more on the rally here at DDDB and at the Historic Districts Council Newsstand Blog.