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NY Court of Appeals Deals Blow to Property Owners In Atlantic Yards Case
Within weeks of Pfizer abandoning the redevelopment project made infamous in Kelo v. City of New London, New York’s highest Court refused to overturn lower courts’ decisions that the area surrounding Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project is blighted. Read the opinion here. Amid calls for eminent domain reform, the project will now move forward by selling bonds to fund... Read More
Taxpayer’s Challenge to Re-Assessment Out of Time
Bear’s Nest Condo. Ass’n v. Bergen County Bd. of Taxation, 2009 N.J. Tax LEXIS 26 (October 19, 2009) (Approved for Publication in New Jersey Tax Court Reports). In this matter, plaintiff, a condominium association, sued county tax board and borough, appealing the board’s approval of a re-assessment of all condominium units in the borough, including all... Read More
Kelo Update — Lessons Learned?
Read this excellent Op-Ed piece from the New York Times about the questions recently revisited as a result of the decision of Pfizer to close its New Lodon facility before “redevelopment” occurred and leaving behind vacant land which victimized Suzette Kelo and her neighbors. For another article in the New York Times on Pfizer’s departure... Read More
The Aftermath of Kelo – Pfizer Leaving New London
From the Wall Street Journal November 11, 2009, Page A20 “The Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London stands as one of the worst in recent years, handing local governments carte blanche to seize private property in the name of economic development. Now, four years after that decision gave Susette Kelo’s... Read More
Pfizer abandons site of infamous Kelo eminent domain taking | Washington Examiner
Pfizer abandons site of infamous Kelo eminent domain taking | Washington Examiner.... Read More
Tenants' Rights Scrutinized in Kearny Redevelopment Taking
A New Jersey appellate court recently analyzed the rights of a tenant who challenged a town’s right to use eminent domain to extinguish its leasehold interest in a municipal redevelopment project. Town of Kearny v. Discount City of Old Bridge, et als, Docket No. A-6220-07T3. In this case, two commercial tenants appealed from trial court... Read More
Atlantic Yards Arguments Made to Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is hearing arguments today about the Atlantic Yards project, where challenges to the right to condemn were filed by several owners and interest groups. Lower courts upheld the condemning agency’s right to condemn. If the project proceeds, it would result in the development of a large mixed use project which... Read More
Tax Sale Certificate Holder Rights Upheld
In DSC of Newark Enterprises, Inc. v. South Plainfield Borough, decided October 6, 2009 (Approved for Publication in N.J. Tax Reports), the New Jersey Tax Court was confronted with an issue concerning the amount and allocation of a refund resulting from tax sale certificates that were issued as a consequence of nonpayment of taxes on the subject... Read More
Kelo Update: Eminent Domain in New London — Poetic Justice or Sour Economy?
What is happening in New London, Connecticut now, more than four years after the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in the Kelo v. New London matter? “There are a few signs of life: Feral cats glare at visitors from a miniature jungle of Queen Anne’s lace, thistle and goldenrod. Gulls swoop between the lot’s... Read More