Saturday, December 19, 2009
WPU attends Senator Perkins' Community Meeting
WPU attended State Senator Bill Perkins' Community Meeting on Eminent Domain at Manhattan Pentecostal Church today.
WPU President Jerry Antonacci spoke about how the EDC is "reading from a script" since every few years the city or state comes up with an eminent domain-requiring development scheme for Willets Point.
Attorney Mike Rikon also spoke about how wrong the use of eminent domain is without a public use and to benefit private developers.
Attorneys Norm Siegel and David Smith, representatives of Develop Don't Destroy and the families fighting the Columbia University expansion also spoke.
Senator Perkins announced that his committee will be holding hearings on all of the currently proposed NYC projects that require eminent domain.
One goal of the meeting was to start a coalition to fight eminent domain abuse across New York State and members of all the groups present signed up to do just that.
Atlantic Yards Report has more.