Monday, October 29, 2007

amNewYork: Brooklyn redevelopment faces Underground Railroad conflict

AM New York is the first to publish a story about today's eminent domain hearing. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) heard public testimony, as reported in "Brooklyn redevelopment faces Underground Railroad conflict":

The city's vision for a massive, multibillion-dollar redevelopment of Downtown Brooklyn ran into more impassioned objections Monday at a public hearing debating whether the city can destroy homes that may have been stops on the Underground Railroad.

The article touches on the fumbles that forced the City to hold a second hearing after Downtown Brooklyn advocates found fatal flaws in the first eminent domain findings:

After the report was issued, the city pressed on with eminent domain action to take ownership of the Duffield homes and 40 rent-stabilized apartments nearby, as well as a few other businesses. But earlier this month, after a number of lawsuits had been filed, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development withdrew that eminent domain application. An agency spokesman said it did so because of a paperwork oversight and has since been refiled.

Nobody spoke in favor the City's plans to destroy the private properties. For more, click here.