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