Banks, Basketball, and Property Rights
On March 11, Barclays Capital took out a full-page ad in the front section of the Wall Street Journal to declare that it is “proud” to celebrate the groundbreaking for the new Barclays Center in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn. If Barclays had even a modicum of respect for private property rights and the free market, it would be deeply ashamed.
The future home of the NBA laughing-stock Nets will soon be the former home of proud Brooklyners. These folks are losing their homes and businesses through eminent domain for a basketball court and other private development projects of billionaire developer Bruce Ratner.
Ratner did not have much difficulty courting virtually the entire New York political establishment to his side. All he had to do was claim that a sports arena and luxury residences would generate more tax revenue than neighborhood pubs and modest condos. With the promise of extra taxes, officials became all too eager to declare this up-and-coming neighborhood “blighted” and condemn the properties on Ratner’s behalf. Ratner also succeeded in hiring the scandal-ridden ACORN to provide political cover for the development project by loaning the group $1 million and giving it $500,000 outright. And because the Nets have been hemorrhaging money, Ratner also partnered with Mikhail Prokhorov, the unscrupulous billionaire Russian playboy, who now owns a share in the Nets and in the arena.
Is this what Barclays meant by the “teamwork and excellence” mentioned in its ad?
On the other side of Team Ratner is a group of home and small business owners. Daniel Goldstein was a graphic designer before Ratner targeted his condo for the center court of the new Nets arena. Now, his full-time job is fighting a losing battle against the state in an effort to stay in his rightful home.
New York is perhaps the worst abuser of eminent domain in the nation and, so far, New York courts have rejected the claims of Goldstein and his neighbors fighting eviction, clearing the way for the groundbreaking heralded by Barclays. In the final days before Goldstein is removed from his home, he now even has to ask Ratner for permission before having guests over. “I actually don’t feel like I live in New York City or a free country anymore,” he recently said.
nice posting,, thanks.
What property owners are seeing in Brooklyn and elsewhere is that the notion of “public good” is corrupted in today’s interpretation of eminent domain; plus the fact that there is a lot of play in the “just” of just compensation.
New York and Pennsylvania, among other states, will see more eminent domain “takings” thanks to the rising interest in natural gas drilling in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale. With more drilling comes more pipelines and more underground gas storage fields — and that (pipelines & storage fields) always means eminent domain.
The excellent Institute for Justice of Kelo fame declines to intervene in energy/utility “takings” because, they told me, of the “public good” premise. The Institute should reconsider what support it can offer in this expanding “market” for eminent domain abuse.
The stories are horrendous; energy companies and utilities are no better than Bruce Ratner.
But property owners can fight back. Our two-year battle against Houston-based Spectra Energy which seized our property rights for an underground gas storage field led to the development of a website which has begun to attract whistle blowers inside the energy industry. We are collaborating and helping property owners in many states. For info, visit the site: http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/
By the way, our new neighbor, Spectra Energy, has received two Notice of Violations for “unlawful conduct” related to emergency shutdowns and emissions at its storage field in Bedford County, PA. Reports of contaminated water supplies are on the rise since they began operations.
The ripple effects of eminent domain are never over.
Eminent Domain is liken to a mobster protection racket. If the private citizen can pay what the mobster wants, he keeps the property, if not, he is forced to move and watch his property get destroyed, in handcuffs if needed.
People tend to forget that once a law is passed or a legal issue is decided, it could mean death. For instance, when a person refuses to follow even a minor law, he can be arrested, if he resists, he can be physically restrained (or shot). Think about what any law means and ask yourselves, “Is this worth having an officer subdue someone for (or worse) should a person resist?”
Holy Crapola! I guess Mr. Adams could easily be referring to this in the first line of this quote:
“If ye love wealth better than liberty,
the tranquility of servitude
better than the animating contest of freedom,
go home from us in peace.
We ask not your counsels or your arms.
Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.
May your chains set lightly upon you,
and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”
–Samuel Adams
I am always leery of people like MikeB who has a well defined web site to state his opinion on how bad this horizontal drilling and fracking is supposed to be. Seems as thought the left will do everything and use every opportunity to stop America from becoming energy independent. After all they hadn’t anticipated the Marcellus Shale being put into play. All this concern over groundwater contamination is bull since the fracking takes place well below the water table.
My thanks to don christner for the compliment about my “well defined website.” If I may, I am leery of folks who are theorists or do not have skin-in-the-game.
My primary issue is property rights, though I do not discount the repeated concerns about water contamination I receive on a personal level (folks I know) who are losing livestock and have to install $11,000 water systems so they can drink the water on their property. In one case I know of, a couple who own a farm in Pennsylvania have tested for elevated levels of arsenic. (You must test hair samples to read for arsenic in these tests.)
Many folks may not be aware of the fact that when the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, to cite one example, “tests” water, it does not test for the chemicals used in drilling mud and frac fluid.
For two years, my wife and I and other property owners fought the threat of eminent domain from Houston-based Spectra Energy. Keep in mind that eminent domain cannot happen without the badge or the authority of government. In our case, the government power to condemn or “take” came from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Look at the video of the five testimonials on our website. These are regular folks (including farmers, loggers, gunowers, NRA members, hunters, etc.) These are regular folks, not the left speaking. We fought eminent domain at great personal expense, in terms of money, time and even health issues for some folks.
Private property rights (including water) are so fundamental that founding fathers such as Samuel Adams described it as an “essential” right and wrote, “that no man can justly take the property of another without his consent.” [See the book, “Samuel Adams — A Life,” by Ira Stoll, © 2008, p. 48.)
If property owners choose to sign gas leases, that is their right; but they should have all the facts at their disposal; and the gas companies should be absolutely transparent in terms of what will happen to their property, including the content of the “frac” fluid.
The assertion that “All this concern over ground water contamination is bull since the fracking takes place well below the water table is uninformed. Talk to property owners in Dimock, PA, to cite one location. Not only can well casings leak due to improper “seals,” but much of the frac fluid returns to the surface (as part of the drilling process).
For anyone thinking about leasing, check out the post titled, “Marcellus Powerball”: http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/?p=494
As a wise farmer once advised: “Educate yourself and talk to your neighbors” — and talk to folks who have experience with wells on their property. Then make up your own mind.
Do not depend on the kindness of strangers from the energy companies or the government.