cruise4
28-01-2008, 02:39 AM
The Current Issue
William Minnich and his nephew, Bill Minnich, own Minic Custom Woodwork in East Harlem, a business that’s been in their family for more than 70 years. [1] Their custom-made furniture and cabinetry is known throughout the nation, and their work appears in many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Empire State Development Corporation, however, plans to condemn their building and transfer it to a private developer for a Home Depot parking lot.
Bill Brody, like his father, owns a lumberyard and hardware store. He also buys buildings and renovates them. Four years ago, he purchased several adjacent buildings in Port Chester, New York, only a few minutes from his home. The four joined buildings were in total disrepair, but Brody believed that Main Street held promise. Over the next few years, Bill spent countless hours and thousands of dollars completely renovating and restoring the buildings. Just as he finished, the Village of Port Chester announced it would be condemning his buildings and handing the land over to a private developer to turn into part of a Stop ’n Shop and its parking lot.
Pastor Fred Jenkins formed St. Luke’s Pentecostal Church in the Town of North Hempstead back in 1979. The church is currently leasing basement space; it has been renting for years as it saved to buy a permanent home. In 1997, St. Luke’s finally purchased a piece of property, with a partially constructed church already built. The Church spent the next two years seeking the Town’s permission to complete the construction. And then, shortly after the Church finally obtained a court judgment allowing it to build, the Town moved to condemn the property. St. Luke’s already has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing the property, preparing for construction, and fighting the Town. The Town plans to pay a mere $80,000 as "just compensation" for the property, $50,000 less than the Church actually paid to purchase it.
Unfortunately, the Minnichs, Brody, and St. Luke’s are just the latest example of a frightening trend. Private property owners in New York and nationwide find their property rights under attack from unethical marriages of convenience between developers, local governments and state agencies. The result is an erosion of the fundamental constitutional right to private property. And the legal landscape is stacked against the landholders.
On October 4, 2000, the Institute for Justice joined the Minnichs, Brody, and St. Luke’s in fighting the condemnation of their properties, two of which are for the benefit of other private parties. The Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York to bar four government agencies from seizing of the Minnichs’ and Brody’s buildings and the impending demolition of St. Luke’s and to hold that New York’s condemnation procedure violates the U.S. Constitution.
Eminent Domain: How It Works, How It Is Abused
"Eminent domain" is the power of government to take away a person’s private property. In the United States, this power is limited in several important ways. The New York and United States constitutions both state that private property shall not "be taken for public use without just compensation." [2] This constitutional provision imposes two limits on the taking of private property: First, that the use must be public, and second, that just compensation must be paid. If private property could be taken for any use at all or strictly for private use, the term "public" would not have been included.
Originally, "public use" was understood by everyone—courts, local governments, and the general citizenry—to have its ordinary meaning, and eminent domain was intended only for projects that would be owned by and open to the public. [3] Eminent domain was a power that allowed the government to condemn property in order to construct public works, like roads and water systems, and to erect public buildings, such as post offices. [4] Courts further explained that government was limited to taking only that property "necessary" for the public use. [5] It could not simply grab additional land to increase its holdings.
http://www.ij.org/private_property/new_york/backgrounder.html
William Minnich and his nephew, Bill Minnich, own Minic Custom Woodwork in East Harlem, a business that’s been in their family for more than 70 years. [1] Their custom-made furniture and cabinetry is known throughout the nation, and their work appears in many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Empire State Development Corporation, however, plans to condemn their building and transfer it to a private developer for a Home Depot parking lot.
Bill Brody, like his father, owns a lumberyard and hardware store. He also buys buildings and renovates them. Four years ago, he purchased several adjacent buildings in Port Chester, New York, only a few minutes from his home. The four joined buildings were in total disrepair, but Brody believed that Main Street held promise. Over the next few years, Bill spent countless hours and thousands of dollars completely renovating and restoring the buildings. Just as he finished, the Village of Port Chester announced it would be condemning his buildings and handing the land over to a private developer to turn into part of a Stop ’n Shop and its parking lot.
Pastor Fred Jenkins formed St. Luke’s Pentecostal Church in the Town of North Hempstead back in 1979. The church is currently leasing basement space; it has been renting for years as it saved to buy a permanent home. In 1997, St. Luke’s finally purchased a piece of property, with a partially constructed church already built. The Church spent the next two years seeking the Town’s permission to complete the construction. And then, shortly after the Church finally obtained a court judgment allowing it to build, the Town moved to condemn the property. St. Luke’s already has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing the property, preparing for construction, and fighting the Town. The Town plans to pay a mere $80,000 as "just compensation" for the property, $50,000 less than the Church actually paid to purchase it.
Unfortunately, the Minnichs, Brody, and St. Luke’s are just the latest example of a frightening trend. Private property owners in New York and nationwide find their property rights under attack from unethical marriages of convenience between developers, local governments and state agencies. The result is an erosion of the fundamental constitutional right to private property. And the legal landscape is stacked against the landholders.
On October 4, 2000, the Institute for Justice joined the Minnichs, Brody, and St. Luke’s in fighting the condemnation of their properties, two of which are for the benefit of other private parties. The Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York to bar four government agencies from seizing of the Minnichs’ and Brody’s buildings and the impending demolition of St. Luke’s and to hold that New York’s condemnation procedure violates the U.S. Constitution.
Eminent Domain: How It Works, How It Is Abused
"Eminent domain" is the power of government to take away a person’s private property. In the United States, this power is limited in several important ways. The New York and United States constitutions both state that private property shall not "be taken for public use without just compensation." [2] This constitutional provision imposes two limits on the taking of private property: First, that the use must be public, and second, that just compensation must be paid. If private property could be taken for any use at all or strictly for private use, the term "public" would not have been included.
Originally, "public use" was understood by everyone—courts, local governments, and the general citizenry—to have its ordinary meaning, and eminent domain was intended only for projects that would be owned by and open to the public. [3] Eminent domain was a power that allowed the government to condemn property in order to construct public works, like roads and water systems, and to erect public buildings, such as post offices. [4] Courts further explained that government was limited to taking only that property "necessary" for the public use. [5] It could not simply grab additional land to increase its holdings.
http://www.ij.org/private_property/new_york/backgrounder.html