Mythsmasher: Columbia University Obtains Eminent Domain Land Grab in Harlem By Richard Cooper

First published by GroundReport and reprinted with express permission. 

As reported in my alma mater Columbia University's newspaper, Columbia Daily Spectator, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) unanimously voted to authorize seizure by eminent domain of two commercial properties in New York City's Manhattanville section (also known as West Harlem). As a Libertarian activist for property rights and a Columbia alumnus, I find this doubly disheartening but not surprising. To see the ESDC side with powerful businesses and institutions is to see the norm.