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tel/fax:
718.362.4784
Please note our new postal address when sending
contributions to the legal fund:
121 5th Avenue, PMB #150
Brooklyn, New York 11217
About DDDB
Our coalition consists of 21 community organizations and
there are 51 community organizations formally
aligned in opposition to the Ratner plan.
DDDB is a volunteer-run organization. We have over 5,000
subscribers to our email newsletter, and 7,000 petition
signers. Over 800 volunteers have registered with DDDB
to form our various teams, task-forces and committees
and we have over 150 block captains. We have a 20 person
volunteer legal team of local lawyers supplementing our
retained attorneys.
We are funded entirely by individual donations from the community at large
and through various fundraising events we and supporters have organized.
We have the financial support of well over 3,500 individual
donors.
More about
DDDB...
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Wednesday, June 27, 1pm. City Hall Steps.
Media/Public Advisory
EVENT:
New York City Property Owners, Tenants and Advocates Unite to Fight Eminent
Domain Abuse After Second Anniversary of Infamous U.S. Supreme Court Kelo
Decision
TIME/DATE: 1PM, Wednesday, June 27
PLACE: City Hall Steps
PARTICIPANTS:
Home and business owners, and tenants from Prospect Heights,
Brooklyn; Duffield St., Brooklyn; West Harlem,
Manhattan; Willets Point, Queens;
Councilmembers Tony Avella and Letitia James;
and activists from:
-- Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
-- NoLandGrab.org
-- Historic Districts Council
-- Fifth Avenue Committee
-- New York Community Council
-- Society for the Architecture of the City
-- NY Solidarity Coalition with Katrina and Rita Survivors
-- Willets Point Business Association
-- Harlem Tenants Council
-- Coalition to Preserve Community
-- West Harlem Coalition
-- 550 Riverside, 55/69 Tiemann Pl. Tenants Alliance
-- Coalition To Save The East Village
-- Coalition for a Livable West Side
-- Lower East Side Residents for Responsible Development
-- Duffield Street Block Association
-- Green Party of Brooklyn
-- Park Slope Greens
-- United Neighbors for Brooklyn
-- Atlantic Avenue Betterment Association
-- Brownstone Revival Coalition
-- Fans for Fair Play
and more...
New York, NY -- Marking the second-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's
infamous decision in Kelo v. New London, which gave the nod to the City of New
London to use eminent domain to take homes for a private development, home and
business owners, and tenants in New York City are banding together to raise public
awareness that New York City has become one of the worst abusers of eminent domain
and that no one's home or business is safe when the City or a developer is interested
in "assembling land" for private development.
"Eminent domain abuse is an abuse of our fundamental constitutional rights. In New York City it's reaching epidemic proportions," said Lumi Michelle Rolley of NolandGrab.org. "Given its policy of eminent domain abuse, it is no surprise that New York hasn't even attempted to reform its eminent domain laws since the infamous Kelo Supreme Court decision."
"Mayor Bloomberg and the State of New York consistently favor the interest of big developers over that of regular citizens," said Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's Daniel Goldstein. "The Bloomberg Administration's policy has been to misuse and abuse eminent domain, with the support New York state and this policy has gone too far. We're taking a stand, not just for ourselves, but for all New Yorkers who believe in the American dream and the importance of homes and businesses.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn leads a broad-based community
coalition advocating for development that will unite our communities instead of
dividing and destroying them. DDDB opposes Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards'
abuse of eminent domain. DDDB has organized owner and tenant plaintiffs in a federal
lawsuit charging that eminent domain for Atlantic Yards violates the US. Constitution.
Like the other neighborhoods, phony "blight" findings were used to justify the
eminent domain abuse.
Joy Chatel and Lew Greenstein are fighting to save their historic
homes on Duffield St. in Brooklyn. Their homes were part of the Underground Railroad
network and are under threat of demolition to make way for a hotel parking garage.
A lawsuit has been filed contesting the accuracy of the City's study, which determined
that the historical significance of the homes could not be proven.
Property owners and tenants in West Harlem are battling to keep
their homes and businesses from Columbia University's expansion of their uptown
campus. Since the project was unveiled the university has refused to take eminent
domain off the table. The application for review under the city's land-use procedure
was just approved by the City Planning Commission.
Once again, Willets Point Queens businesses and a longtime resident
are under threat of eminent domain. For decades the City has failed to provide
basic services to this neighborhood. Despite the municipal neglect, the area
is the location of hundreds of successful businesses that the City is seeking
to displace.
NoLandGrab is an information portal run by several private
citizens to increase awareness of the Atlantic Yards fight and eminent domain
battles citywide.
Posted: 6.26.07
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