A must read: our Owners' Counsel of America colleague Michael Rikon, the doyen of New York's eminent domain bar, has published "I Represented The Devil Of Brooklyn," in the Practical Real Estate Lawyer. As Mike writes, "it wasn’t a demonic fight in front of the hot dog line at Nathan’s in Coney Island ... this legal tale is about a property owner in Prospect Heights who had the absolute gall to object to the taking of his property for an arena and related real estate development by a well-connected real estate developer."
If that sounds familiar, it is: Mike represented Daniel Goldstein, the plaintiff-in-chief in the multi-jurisdiction Atlantic Yards eminent domain fight, and the protagonist of the documentary Battle for Brooklyn in the final condemnation case in New York's courts. Other lawyers had handled Goldstein's attempt to stop the condemnation and the environmental challenges, and Mike stepped in once no avenues remained to stop the taking. His article details the multiple court rulings, and most interestingly, the strategy that ultimately resulted in a settlement for the just compensation owed to Goldstein:
I thought the papers submitted [supporting the OSC for a Writ of Assistance] were somewhat strident, actually perhaps a little hysterical. I was both surprised and pleased. Judges in general do not like to see personal attacks on parties. Nor do they like signing an order directing the sheriff to throw a family out on the street....What happened in court was that after oral argument, Justice Gerges asked us into his conference room. There was no question, that as a matter of law, the Writ could not be granted. The discussions then focused on the monetary amount to settle the "just compensation" claim, settle on a more imminent
eviction date, and enable Mr. Goldstein to find temporary housing, storage, two moving expenses and his legal fees.Oddly, the amount of compensation was agreed to very quickly. What took several hours was Forest City’s insistence that Daniel not be permitted to speak in opposition to the project. He refused. In fact, he said not for $10 million would he agree to waive his First Amendment rights. I told the judge that this was a Fifth Amendment case, not a First Amendment case and "just compensation" could not be conditioned on the waiver of another part of the Bill of Rights.
Mike's candid walk-through of the case is a revealing insider's look at how the condemnation action was settled, and serves as a final epilogue to the cases and the film. It is also a reminder of why property owners fight to keep their homes and businesses from being condemned, especially for "economic development." He was also kind enough to quote our commentary on Goldstein's settlement, where we critiqued those who claimed that Goldstein "folded" when he accepted the compensation settlement.
For additional thoughts on Mike's article, see That's The Way It Was in Brooklyn - The Goldstein Case Revisited by Gideon Kanner.
