Eminent Domain at Columbia
The Columbia decision “is the first thing that’s happened in New York that suggests the threat of a change in our eminent domain law,” said Kathryn S. Wylde, chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a leading business group. “I think it’s frightening because there are few more important investments in our city’s future than that which Columbia is making.”
The clamor for reform is also being driven by a recent wave of sentiment against development in New York, as demonstrated last month when the City Council defied Mr. Bloomberg and rejected a plan by the Related Companies to convert the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx into a shopping center. Emboldening critics is the sense that Mr. Bloomberg’s influence has waned since his narrow victory in last fall’s mayoral race.
The New York Times may not have this one right. Part, if not all, of the anger is because the citizens of New York have come to believe that a few very favored and very wealthy individuals are taking advantage of the eminent domain system. The Police Power retains its superiority over the Eminent Domain clauses of the Fifth Amendment and Due Process of the Fourteenth Amendment, at least for the time being. This writer fully expects the New York Court of Appeals, being New York’s highest court, to reverse the lower appellate court opinion.
