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Author Archive | Michael Rikon

March 22, 2013

NYC Cultural Institutions In Need of Repair, Sell Out To Developers

A recent New York Times article highlights an increasingly common practice being used around New York City as a way to pay for government services. Cultural institutions desperately in need of repair such as schools and public libraries are being sold developers, torn down, and rebuilt on the ground floor of new apartment towers, all without any expense to the public. Although is not the first time officials have mingled private development and schools, the Times article notes that the pace is accelerating, stating that “three projects have been executed since 2008 and the… read more

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Posted in New York, Uncategorized
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March 13, 2013

Upcoming CLE: Eminent Domain From Start to Finish

Three partners from our firm, Michael Rikon, Joshua Rikon, and Jonathan Houghton, will be presenting at the Eminent Domain From Start to Finish Conference held by the National Business Institute on April 2, 2013. The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn of Plainview, New  York and is recommended for attorneys, appraisers, engineers, and the like. Topics will include Calculating Damages and Just Compensate, Trail Practice and Strategy, and Ethics in Condemnation, among others. The course manual offers 123 pages of valuable material, which will provide a library of… read more

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March 11, 2013

Ramfis Realty: The Battle to Delineate Wetland Boundaries

This post is authored by Michael Rikon. Ramfis Realty, Inc. v. The City of New York, is a written decision published at 37 Misc.3d 1207(A), in which a Brooklyn Judge sitting in Supreme Court of Richmond County corrected a major abuse by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The two main issues that existed at trial were whether a potential buyer would have been permitted to build under a Consent Order entered into between the DEC and the owner, and where the exact boundaries between the wetland… read more

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Posted in New York, Wetlands
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March 1, 2013

Pre-vesting Offers and the Duty to Negotiate

A recent case decided by the New Jersey Appellate Division has highlighted the rule that condemning municipalities do not have a duty to negotiate with mortgagees when condemning a property on which they hold an interest. Borough of Merchantville v. Malik & Son, LLC, handed down on February 5th, specifically held that the condemning municipality was only required to conduct pre-complaint bona fide negotiations with the record owner of the property.* Thus, the municipality did not have to conduct negotiations with the assignee of a mortgagee which had obtained a final judgment of foreclosure. A little bit of… read more

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Posted in Condemnation Procedures, New York, Offer & Compensation, Recent cases, Uncategorized
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February 21, 2013

An Irrational Public Purpose Taking is Not a Violation of Due Process

By: Michael Rikon Sometimes when you read a case you just want to run head first into a brick wall. That’s the feeling we had when we read the Second Circuit’s recent decision in Matter of 49 WB v Village of Haverstraw in an unpublished summary order. The Second Circuit was reviewing de novo the district court’s granting of summary judgment for defendant-appellees (Village of Haverstraw) and denying 49 WB’s cross-motion for partial summary judgment as to liability. 49 WB argued, based on the Appellate Division’s determination regarding the attempted condemnation of… read more

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Posted in Challenging condemnation, Eminent Domain, New York, Recent cases
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