“The Land is Too Valuable”

Which brings us to Mayor Bloomberg’s mantra about Willets Point. The land, according to the mayor, is too valuable for the businesses that are on it. This is the dirty, secret reality behind a great many eminent domain proceedings. New York City is not New London, a poor city that, because of its poverty, the Times believes is justified in removing people from their houses. In NYC, and especially in Willets Point, the development schemes will more strongly reflect Justice O’Conner’s observation that, “As for the victims, the government now has the license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more.”