Sure It’s A Vacant, Dilapidated Building, But It’s My Vacant, Dilapidated Building!

We’re learning very quickly how the City views opponents of eminent domain abuse:

The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation held its annual membership meeting Tuesday afternoon and the event was anchored by a panel discussion on eminent domain that featured a lawyer for New York City and a planning director from Raleigh, N.C., who both lauded the practice as an essential tool that, when used judiciously, can invigorate urban economies.

. . .

Lisa Bova-Hiatt, deputy chief of the New York City Law Department, said Tuesday the public’s response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision last June that upheld a city’s right to seize private property for economic development was “nothing short of hysterical.”

Bova-Hiatt said the case simply confirmed that economic development constitutes a “public benefit.” Bova-Hiatt said she is extremely concerned about a bill, currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate, that would prohibit city’s [sic] from using eminent domain for economic development. [Emph. added because I don’t think most property owners are acting in a “hysterical” manner]

Easy for her to say!