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July 25, 2023

Federal Funds Now Devoted to Help Undo the Damage to Black Neighborhoods by Urban Renewal

We have previously written how Urban Renewal brought under the Federal Housing Act of 1949 authorized cities to use the power of eminent domain to clear “blighted neighborhoods” for “higher use.”  (See “Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods, New York Law Journal, February 24, 2023.) African Americans, who were 12% of the population in the US, were five times more likely to be displaced than they should have been given their numbers in the population.  In city after city, highways that were built to appease white suburban commuters, and… read more

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Posted in Blight, Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal
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March 7, 2023

The Legacy of San Juan Hill – Not Pretty!

The New York Times ran a story by James Barron on February 15, 2023, “Before Lincoln Center, San Juan Hill was a Vibrant Black Community.” The article focused on an established and vibrant neighborhood that was razed for Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Seven thousand families and 800 businesses were displaced by urban renewal. The name of the neighborhood was thought to have been a tribute to the Black cavalry unit that fought in the battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War in 1898.  San Juan Hill was an… read more

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Posted in Blight, Condemnation, Racial Prejudice, Urban Renewal
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February 9, 2023

Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods

The Federal Housing Act of 1949, which was in effect from 1949 through 1973, authorized cities to use the power of eminent domain to clear “blighted neighborhoods” for “higher use.”  According to an excellent paper published by the Institute for Justice, “Eminent Domain and African Americans,” written by Mindy Thomson Fillilove, MD, in 24 years, 2,532 projects were carried out in 992 cities that displaced one million people, two-thirds of them African American. African Americans, who were 12% of the population in the US, were five times more likely to… read more

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Posted in Blight, Eminent Domain, Racism in Urban Planning, Urban Renewal
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January 12, 2023

A Very Rare Win – Matter of Bowers Dev. LLC v Oneida County Indus. Dev. Agency. But, It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over.

The Fourth Department handed down a Christmas present on December 23, 2022 granting a petition filed pursuant to Section 207 of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law (EDPL) to annul the determination of the Oneida County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) to condemn certain real property. Before we dive into the case, let’s discuss EDPL Sec. 207, the exclusive procedure in New York to challenge a condemnation. Authorizing and Challenging the Condemnation Article 2 of New York’s Eminent Domain Procedure Law sets forth the prescribed way that property is to be acquired… read more

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Posted in Blight, Condemnation, EDPL Sec. 207, Power of Condemnation, Public Purpose
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January 3, 2023

Blight, The Necessary Requirement for Condemnation

On December 29, 2022, the New York Times ran a story, “Why New York State insists that the Penn Station Area is ‘“Blighted.”’  The answer, silly, is that it had to. In New York, we just can’t condemn property unless there is a finding of blight.  I suggest that “blight” is in the eyes of the beholder.  I once attended a public hearing held pursuant to Article 2 of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law.  I believe it was for the taking for the expansion of Columbia University.  At the hearing,… read more

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Posted in Blight, Condemnation, Penn Station
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