Trying to stop a taking of your property? You may have options in addition to a "public use" challenge, as was recently noted here. In this video, Albany Law School's Amy Lavine details a potential problem with the bonds for the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, which is the subject of a multi-jurisdictional eminent domain brawl between property owners and neighborhood residents on one side, and a private developers and the redevelopment authority on the other. The New York Court of Appeals recently ruled against the property owners on their claim their properties are not blighted, but this latest question may put the kibosh on the project. Don't win on public use? Go for the financing.
More on the issue here, from Atlantic Yards Report. For a broad critique of "economic development" takings, including Kelo and Atlantic Yards, see Eminent Domain Abuse: The Gifts That Keep On Giving and the Gifts That Don't, from Noticing New York, a blog by NY attorney and planner Michael White.
This shows that there is more than one way to approach the issue of bad takings. In February, I will be on a panel with Dana Berliner and Matt Fellerhoff discussing some of the options for challenging takings (including, but not limited to, public use), "Winning Arguments in Challenging the Right To Take and Public Use." This panel is part of the annual ALI-ABA conference Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation on February 4-6, 2010, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Details here.
