Turner vs. Gillibrand

Word has come down that newly elected Congressman Bob Turner is planning to challenge Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the upcoming November election:

"Representative Bob Turner, a Republican who unexpectedly won a House seat in a closely watched special election last year, has decided to run for the United States Senate in New York, seeking to oust Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a Democrat.

Mr. Turner came to the decision after it became clear that his Congressional district, which includes portions of Queens and Brooklyn, is one of two districts that will likely be eliminated this year in New York as part of the decennial redistricting process. New York must cut the size of its congressional delegation, to 27 from 29, to reflect slow population growth identified in the 2010 Census."

We at Willets Point United welcome Turner's challenge and are hoping that the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2012 will be come a key issue in the campaign. The bill which passed the House last month has been sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee where its fate is uncertain.

We are sending letters to both Gillibrand and Turner asking that they join with WPU at a press conference in support of the legislation. Here is the letter that we are sending:

We are writing to request that you publicly stand with the property owners of Willets Point United in support of H. R. 1433-the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2012. The bill passed with an overwhelming voice vote on February 28th and was sent to the Senate where it was referred to the Judiciary Committee where its fate is uncertain.

The impetus behind the legislation comes from the fact that, while 44 states reformed their own eminent domain statutes after the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision, the remaining states-including New York-have held firm. New York is a particularly egregious example and should be seen as the poster child for the need to prevent eminent domain abuse-nowhere else in the country is condemnation used, on behalf of rich real estate interests, with such disregard for the rights of smaller property owners.

We at Willets Point are particularly sensitive to the issue because the City of New York has run roughshod over our property rights with countless examples of abuse-ranging from an illegal lobbying scheme to the use of fraudulent and deceptive traffic date in order to promote car and truck traffic that will jam local roads and highways.

In our fight to preserve our constitutionally protected rights to property we have reached out to local area civic groups and five of these organizations-representing approximately 10,000 Queens’ homeowners and tenants-have signed resolutions that essentially support the mandate of H. R. 1433. (Juniper Civic; Malba Gardens Civic; COMET; Bay Terrace; John Bowne Civic)

We would like to hold a news conference in support of the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2012 and we would love for you to be one of the keynote speakers for the event. Please let us know if you would be available and at what convenient date so we can plan the event with the greatest amount of community, business and labor participation.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation