Phil Reisman

Nine years ago, a rapacious developer came into Port Chester with an idea of steam rolling much of the village’s commercial district.

G&S, the developers from Bethpage, L.I., succeeded with the assistance of New York state’s eminent domain law which was lopsidedly designed to screw private property owners. Considerable help also was provided by a cadre of enabling village officials who were in their hip pocket.

If you travel to Port Chester today, you will see the fruits of their labors—giant, monolithic, windowless structures. They include a Costco and a multiplex movie theater that hug the Byram River waterfront. Beneath the level of the parking lot and barely visible to passerbys, they built a promenade along the river, which appears to be in disrepair and under utilized.

One of the property owners whose rights were violated in the eminent domain fiasco was a man by the name of Bill Brody. His commercial building on South Main Street was seized to make way for a parking garage and a Stop & Shop supermarket.

Under New York law,  challenges to eminent domain had to be filed within 30 days of a governmental decision to condemn a property. The problem was that the only official means of notification was a legal ad placed in classified sections of newspapers.

If you missed seeing the ad in time, you lost any chance of saving your property.

By the time Brody learned that his property was condemned, it was too late. Nevertheless, he fought back. Enlisting the legal assistance of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice, he took his case to court and won.

Last year, a judge of the Southern District of New York, ruled that his right to due process had been violated. In a way, it was a Pyrrhic victory. Brody’s building had already been torn down.

But the federal court decision did have positive results. It was precedent setting, giving fuel to other property owners fighting unfair eminent domain cases across the country. It also spurred the New York State Legislature  to rewrite the eminent domain procedural law, requiring proper notification to property owners.

There’s also an extraordinary final chapter to the Brody-Port Chester story. The village had to eat crow. As part of a settlement agreement, the village paid Brody $475,000 and publicly apologize. The apology came at a village board meeting Monday night…and set in stone at a settlement signing ceremony held today at Village Hall.

That’s not all. The village also agreed to rename the corner where Brody’s building stood—William Brody Plaza.

Having covered this story in the early years, I never thought I’d see anything like this happen.

However, the apology to Brody isn’t enough. The village should extend it to the scores of merchants, landlords and apartment dwellers who were bullied, terrorized and swindled during that terrible period.

Brody had the means and forbearance to fight back. Others didn’t. They had to cut their losses and leave.

|