I saw this article about eminent domain in the Asbury Park press.  Sickens me that this is happening in America.    

September 25, 2005
Section: A
Page: 16

EMINENT DOMAIN IN LONG BRANCH THE PLACES AND FACES ON THE BRINK
Staff

As part of its waterfront redevelopment efforts, the city of Long Branch has targeted the north Long Branch neighborhood, including Marine and Ocean terraces and Seaview Avenue, for phase II of Beachfront North. Residents of the area, which has 35 properties, are fighting the city's attempt to seize their homes under eminent domain and replace them with upscale condominiums. The city is set to mail letters that indicate its intent to begin legal proceedings against property owners who have not negotiated with it.









Rest of the article:

LOUIS AND LILLIAN ANZALONE32 OCEAN TERRACE

"To even think about giving this up and finding something else, that's trauma. Everything is here. My whole history is here. This is part of my life."

Louis T. Anzalone came to the sea to recover from lung ailments he developed during five years of naval service in World War II.

Anzalone, his wife, Lillian, and their then 5-year-old son, Thomas, came to Long Branch in 1960 after Anzalone's physician in Newark recommended the then-bustling resort.

"This was our palace, so to speak," said Louis Anzalone on the porch of his oceanview home.

"And it still is," said Lillian Anzalone, who, like her husband, is 88. "We love it here."

Anzalone, who for years worked for Lionel Toy Trains in Hillside, took a transfer to Detroit in the 1970s. But the company flew him home every weekend for years.

"I had my home. This is where it all started," he said.

"And we hope to end it here," his wife said.

The Anzalones are not impressed with the redevelopment now threatening their home.

"I don't need a new Long Branch. This is my Long Branch," he said, gesturing to the neighborhood where some homes date to 1918, which he says gives them character. "This is Long Branch, not the condos. When I look at them, I think I'm in some foreign land."

The Anzalones say they don't mind when visitors park on their street to go to the beach.

"The ocean belongs to everybody," Louis Anzalone said. "You don't have to be a high-priced person to use the ocean."

- Carol Gorga Williams

CARMEN AND JOSEPHINE VENDETTI 38 OCEAN TERRACE

"We eat breakfast and dinner out here. When I get up in the morning, I look out the window or the door and see the ocean."

(Josephine Vendetti)

When Carmen and Josephine Vendetti bought their Ocean Terrace property, it was a vacant lot.

"A friend in the construction business said, `Let me build you a house,"' said Carmen Vendetti, 78.

That was in 1960, one year before their daughter, Lori Ann, was born. The Vendettis later had two sons and a lifetime of happy memories in the 60-by-80-foot brick home. Lori Ann Vendetti, who lives in Newark, now has her own summer home across the street from her parents.

"All of them were raised here, and they enjoyed it," said Josephine Vendetti, 75. "My niece was (just) here, and she keeps thanking us for the happy memories. She'd like her (15-month-old) son to enjoy it."

Two picnic tables and a number of chairs are lined up on the breezy back patio, a testament to four generations of family and friends who enjoyed the Vendettis' summer home.

"Those chairs were all filled for family reunions and barbecues," Josephine Vendetti said. "We had all the summer birthdays here; these are the happy memories."

Carmen Vendetti drove a tractor-trailer for 45 years, and after he retired, the couple began splitting their time between Long Branch and Florida.

The Vendettis aren't going without a fight. They've held rallies in their yard and sent numerous letters to state and federal officials.

"How can they take your house? It's like taking your children," Josephine Vendetti said.

- Larry Higgs

ROSE LA ROSA 79 OCEAN TERRACE

"You have no peace of mind, believe me. You have it with you day and night. It never goes away. I cry all the time. I don't even tell my kids about it. They get heartbroken when they see how down I am."

More than 60 years later, Rose LaRosa still cries over the loss of her brother, who was killed at age 21 in World War II. After all, she owes him her little slice of heaven.

"When my brother, Joe, came home on leave from the Army Air Corps in September of 1943, my uncle told him to go look at this house, as it was for sale," she said of her Ocean Terrace home. "Every letter my brother wrote home from war, he said, `Pop, buy that house. We'll have fun when the war is over.'"

Three months later, Joe's plane crashed, killing him, she said.

"My father told the owner the story, and the owner told him, `Mr. Torrisi, the house is yours no matter what kind of bid I get.'"

Now, LaRosa is fighting to hold on to the house.

"Now, they want to take it," she said, noting her parents, her surviving brother, Phil, and her three children and 10 grandchildren all have enjoyed the house.

"This is America, and my brother gave his life for America. Here we are over in Iraq helping them. We need help here," she said of her threatened community.

LaRosa's husband, Paul, died in 1998, but when he was ill, she would put him in the sun parlor and open the blinds so he could see the ocean.

"Tell the mayor we gave enough to America," she said of Mayor Adam Schneider, who supports the redevelopment. "We gave our blood."

- Carol Gorga Williams. This story includes material from previous Press stories.

ALBERT VIVIANO 99 MARINE TERRACE

"I did everything myself. I've got happy memories here. I hope we get to keep it."

Seven generations of family have enjoyed the house on Marine Terrace in which Albert Viviano has lived year round since he retired in 1980.

"Everyone came for the summer, seven on my side and eight on my wife's side of the family," Viviano said. "It was jammed on the weekend."

Viviano, 92, worked in the family truck and horse-drawn wagon body business in Newark as a blacksmith and bookkeeper. The business had its busiest day on Saturday.

"I'd come here on Sunday and go home Sunday night," he said. "It was a pleasure to have a place to go on the weekend."

When Viviano wasn't at work in Newark, he was fixing up the house, replacing the plumbing and electrical systems and even fabricating vinyl siding pieces for porch railings and window trim. A large maple tree shades the front of the house.

"This is beautiful. I sit on the porch and get a breeze," he said. "It's the only house (on the block) with a tree."

Viviano had to stop taking bookkeeping courses and take over the family business when his father died at age 54 during the Great Depression. He lost his son at 55 to a heart attack and now faces the loss of his home.

"They want to give us a condo ... with a $200,000 mortgage. It's ridiculous," Viviano said. "Leave me alone here. I'm not ready to take that on again."

- Larry Higgs

RICHARD SQUIRLOCK 34 SEAVIEW AVENUE

"I have 33 acres of a park across the street that they can't develop. I'm steps from the ocean; it is more than wonderful."

When Richard Squirlock bought his modest house on Seaview Avenue in 1979, Long Branch was down on its luck. But he did it because he wanted to be close to the ocean.

"Part of Long Branch was redeveloping, but it was pretty run down," he said. "I bought it because I liked the area. I didn't have much money. I fish and swim."

Summer meant family visits, said Squirlock, 54. Whatever arguments family members had with each other, they were forgotten as soon as they got to his house at the beach.

"They forgot their troubles and had a good time," Squirlock said. "They won't be able to do that any more."

The house also helped "Uncle Rick" make up for missed birthdays or confirmations of his nieces and nephews. Their visits are his fondest memories of the house, he said.

"They'd come for the summer and spend time. I'm single, and I'd forget birthdays, but now it's summer and it's like, come to Uncle Rick's," he said. "Now they're married with their own families and come a couple of times in the summer with my grandnieces and nephews."

Originally from Clifton, Squirlock said he bought the house because it is across the street from Seven Presidents Park, owned by the county.

Squirlock, who works as a baker, rents out the back of the house during the summer. Now, if his house is taken, he'll lose that income.

"I'm not too keen on condos. I'm a private person, and it's still private here," he said. "I'll never find anything like this."

- Larry Higgs

ANNA DE FARIA 45 MARINE TERRACE

"They can never replace this little house, my castle. I don't want to start over. I want to enjoy the rest of my days here."

Anna DeFaria can see the ocean from almost any place in her neat Marine Terrace home, which she affectionately calls "our little bungalow."

In 1960, she and her husband, Tony, decided to make it their year-round home and moved out of Newark. The home was the first the couple bought. He commuted to his job at ITT in Clifton, and she took a job as a teacher at Long Branch High School. She retired at age 62, but couldn't stay away from the classroom, so she became a teacher and principal at Children of the King Christian school in Long Branch. She retired three years ago.

The bungalow was the summer haven for her four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The DeFaria family had lived on the top floor of a three-family house in Newark.

"They couldn't wait to come to Nanni and Poppi's house," said DeFaria, who will turn 80 next month. "We'd come the day school let out and not go back until Labor Day."

Her impeccably kept home has been renovated three times.

A condo could never replace her memories or her view of the ocean, she said.

"I can sit at the kitchen table and look at the ocean; I can hear its many moods - smooth, waves, whitecaps," DeFaria said. "I walk the boardwalk every day. That ocean is a part of my life.

"We had all kinds of birthday parties here, 40th anniversary and 50th anniversaries here; we had so many good times," DeFaria said.

- Larry Higgs

THE GIORDANOS 74 OCEAN TERRACE

"We love Long Branch, and that's why most of the neighborhood has been there for over half a century. ... We support Long Branch and the redevelopment without the use of eminent domain. We just want to stay in our homes and keep intact our great neighborhood. Why should we have to give that up?"

(William D. Giordano)

Every weekend, 5-year-old Wil and 11-year-old Francesca Giordano go next door to the home of 92-year-old Albert Viviano to sweep the driveway and rake the leaves.

"And it is not because I tell them to do it, and it is not because Al Viviano asked them to do it," said their father, William D. Giordano, 40, of South Plainfield. "That's just the kind of community it is."

It is that sense of community - and continuity - that Giordano is trying to save.

The family's three-family home was built about 80 years ago, by Giordano's great-grandfather, and just about every member of the Giordano extended family has lived in it semipermanently. Now Giordano's oldest sister, Sandra, occupies the residence, and her brother William and his family stay there regularly.

"And my dad would like to live there if everything goes well with our protecting our property," Giordano said of his 80-year-old father, Arnold, who lives in Springfield. "It was where he wanted to retire but hasn't been able to because of the uncertainty of the situation."

Giordano said having the home through so many generations has rooted the family. There are family photos of his grandfather and mother, both as children, playing in the street.

"This house has meant everything to us," Giordano said. "... I have lived in different municipalities in New Jersey, but to me, Long Branch has always been the constant in my life. It has always been my home."

- Carol Gorga Williams

cut/paste from asbury park website, without permission.

Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet?

Our domestic enemies frighten me alot more than our foreign ones.

Quoted: Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet?

Who?  the supream court, the developers, the state legislators or the founding fathers (for not being more specific on what they meant)

Quoted: Our domestic enemies frighten me alot more than our foreign ones.

Yet it always harder to  warn people of them.  Say terrorist, people of get all alert and panicy.  Say politician, they ignore you.

Quoted: Quoted: Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet? Who?  the supream court, the developers, the state legislators or the founding fathers (for not being more specific on what they meant)

Don't discriminate.  

This boils my blood!

take a good look because that will probrobly be the last time you see those people in front of their homes unless Jeb steps in and does something about it!

Politicians with no fear of their constituents is unhealthy. This type of shit is a good example why...

Nearly everyone has a line drawn somewhere.  It is inevitable that one of these elitist assclowns will cross one.  I hope they are sorry for the rest of their sad, worthless wasted (and hopefully short) lives.  No pity.  No remorse.  The water's gettin' hot and the hogs are hungry.

Sooner would be better than later.

Quoted: Quoted: Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet? Who?  the supream court, the developers, the state legislators or the founding fathers (for not being more specific on what they meant)

All but the FF. They were VERY SPECIFIC.

They said for PUBLIC USE, not for PRIVATE.

The ED ruling was one of the worst things I've ever seen.

I thought Eminent Domain was only if the Guberment wanted to buy steal your land and use it for roads and what not?

wtf. those look to be completely inhabited and well maintained houses.

this is definitely not what ED is supposed to be about.

Quoted: I thought Eminent Domain was only if the Guberment wanted to buy steal your land and use it for roads and what not?

used to be. Not anymore

Yeah, from those pictures it looks like that neighborhood is falling apart.[/sarcasm]

Quoted: Quoted: Who?  the supream court, the developers, the state legislators or the founding fathers (for not being more specific on what they meant) Don't discriminate.

Yeah, Let's not be excluding people. That'd be rude.

Quoted: I thought Eminent Domain was only if the Guberment wanted to buy steal your land and use it for roads and what not?

Now they can seize your house and give it to a business or real estate developer for a song. You see, a big business or bunch of rich folks in houses pay more taxes than poor and middle class people do. And according to the SC, more tax money is in the public good.

This is because 5 people decided to shit on the Constitution. Any public official that actually tries to use this is, imo, violating their oath and should swing.

Shit, this could get ugly. Don't fuck with old people--all they got left is their house and their dignity. Take that away....you never know.

Quoted: Our domestic enemies frighten me alot more than our foreign ones.

+1

I think "Government renter" is a more accurate term vs. Homeowner.

YUP ! It's going on in many parts of NJ.

Welcome to the DEMOCRAT STATE.

Lets see, the way I see it, lower class get free money/food from the gov, upper class get nice homes built WHEREVER they want, while the middle class get shit on.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet? Who?  the supream court, the developers, the state legislators or the founding fathers (for not being more specific on what they meant) All but the FF. They were VERY SPECIFIC. They said for PUBLIC USE, not for PRIVATE. The ED ruling was one of the worst things I've ever seen.

+ a kabillion.
You build a life around your home...raise kids, build memories...and then it's GONE on a whim???
WTH is that???

This is awful.

Quoted: take a good look because that will probrobly be the last time you see those people in front of their homes unless Jeb steps in and does something about it!

this NJ, not FL. or are you not talking about jeb bush?

Quoted: Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet?

Just because they don't want to sell their home I don't think they should be shot.  Maybe some of em, but certainly not all of em.

What would John Galt do?

He would find as much toxic waste as possible and bury it in his back yard, then sell the house to people known to cook meth.  Possibly also introduce some endangered species to his property.  If all else fails, fill your house with tires and gas and torch it.

Quoted: Lets see, the way I see it, lower class get free money/food from the gov, upper class get nice homes built WHEREVER they want, while the middle class get shit on.

While I'm on the subject of Ayn Rand, let's reclassify the above to "People who produce more than they consume", "People who produce as much as they consume", and "People who produce less than they consume".

Tell me I HAVE to move outa my house and watch what happens!!!!!!

Quoted: Quoted: Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet? Just because they don't want to sell their home I don't think they should be shot.  Maybe some of em, but certainly not all of em.

I think he means the shitheads taking the homes.

PS, Lettem rot in hell.

Oops

I honestly think this is a very very bad idea.
One day they are gonna try and move somebody out.
Somebody who is old, and this house is all they got left. Lived in it their whole life.
Or someone with a terminal illness who finally decides, fuck it.
Or maybe it will just be someone who has had enough.

And those poor bastards who try to evict the fellow will be dead, and so most likely will be the resident.

A sad fuckin' day in America my friends.

"Negotiate"?

Somehow a scene comes to mind from the movie The Fifth Element, where Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) says, "OK, who else wants to negotiate?"

You can skip shooting SCOTUS folks.  They basically said that you get the government you elect, or, if you state is stupid enough to allow it, you deserve it.  

Of course, the signifigance of that is lost on some folks.

Quoted: You can skip shooting SCOTUS folks.  They basically said that you get the government you elect, or, if you state is stupid enough to allow it, you deserve it.   Of course, the signifigance of that is lost on some folks.

Pointing that out but still ruling for it does NOT absolve them.

Quoted: Quoted: You can skip shooting SCOTUS folks.  They basically said that you get the government you elect, or, if you state is stupid enough to allow it, you deserve it.   Of course, the signifigance of that is lost on some folks. Pointing that out but still ruling for it does NOT absolve them.

What, you don't think voters get what they deserve?  

I don't see where they failed in doing their job here.

ETA, 1st, If you are in favor of holding Justices personally liable, I think that's a bad idea all around.  

2nd, this decision said that the state's laws were judged correctly more than anything.  A State's laws.  So it's a state's right decision.  Now, does your state respect your property or not?  

^-- Just begs for photoshop.

Quoted: Quoted: take a good look because that will probrobly be the last time you see those people in front of their homes unless Jeb steps in and does something about it! this NJ, not FL. or are you not talking about jeb bush?

It's happening in Rivera Beach Florida too, that probably made for some confusion between the two stories.

Florida town plans to use eminent domain RIVIERA BEACH, Fla., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Officials of a poor, predominantly black Florida town plan to relocate about 6,000 residents to make room for a billion-dollar yachting and housing complex. The coastal community of Rivera Beach in Palm Beach County may use eminent domain, if necessary, to claim 400 acres of land for the project, The Washington Times reported Monday. "This is a community that's in dire need of jobs, which has a median income of less than $19,000 a year," Mayor Michael Brown said. "If we don't use this power, cities will die." The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the use of eminent domain for economic purposes, ruling against a group of New London, Conn., homeowners fighting a proposed corporate development. The City Council last week chose a New Jersey-based developer, Viking Inlet Harbor Properties LLC, to oversee the project, which is expected to displace 2,000 houses. Viking has said it will pay at least the assessed values of homes and businesses it buys. Dana Berliner, a lawyer who represented the New London homeowners, warned, "Once someone can be replaced, so something more expensive can go where they were, every home and business in the country is subject to taking by someone else." Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

I have no problem with thieves being gut shot.

SCOTUS ruling just put this issue into the hands of the states. Hmm, more states rights? Let the states make laws forbidding this kind of stuff.

Is it time to start shooting the bastards yet? -- YEP


Our domestic enemies frighten me alot more than our foreign ones.-- Thats the TRUTH !

--------------------------------------


There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."

--Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged


"Once a government resorts to terror against its own population to get what it wants, it must keep using terror against its own population to get what it wants. A government that terrorizes its own people can never stop. If such a government ever lets the fear subside and rational thought return to the populace, that government is finished."

--Michael Rivero

"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves."

-- Howard Zinn

Quoted: Our domestic enemies frighten me alot more than our foreign ones.

Yup, the only thing that can destroy our freedom is the corruption of traditional values outlined in the declaration and Constitution.

According to a companion article, the agreement between the city and Allied development of Hoboken, NJ was signed back in 2000.  The people claim they didn't know the re-development plans applied to them until the 2001-2003 time frame.  The city claims it was public record since 1995.  The city claims the agreement can't be changed now because they will be sued.  

It seems the SC decision has encouraged the city to send "14-day" notices.  Up to 18 people will receive these notices giving the homeowner 14 days to negotiate in "good faith".  Essentially, it seems to me, the local government is forcing citizens to settle with the re-developer, a private company.  

Thirty (30) states have proposed or promise to propose legislation to limit eminent domain.  The fact that they should feel the need to do that....  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: You can skip shooting SCOTUS folks.  They basically said that you get the government you elect, or, if you state is stupid enough to allow it, you deserve it.   Of course, the signifigance of that is lost on some folks. Pointing that out but still ruling for it does NOT absolve them. What, you don't think voters get what they deserve?   I don't see where they failed in doing their job here.

No because the SCOTUS is one of the SAFEGUARDS that is suppossed to protect us from poor representation.

And the SCOTUS failed to do their job by NOT RULING according to the laws of ED which specifically state land must be for PUBLIC USE ONLY.

Armed robbery is still armed robbery, even if you do it with a pen ("eminent domain") and enforce it with local law enforcment ("the hired guns").  


It essentially says,  "You will turn over your property to us, or we will have our enforcers shoot you."

paging Henry Bowman?

Quoted: SCOTUS ruling just put this issue into the hands of the states. Hmm, more states rights? Let the states make laws forbidding this kind of stuff.

Nice idea but if SCOTUS also rules that states could deprive it's citizens of ALL second amendment rights as well "if they decided to" would that be a good thing?

The FF SPECIFICALLY ruled that Eminent Domain MUST be for public use ONLY. The SCOTUS ruling is a violation of that. It is a crime.

Quoted: SCOTUS ruling just put this issue into the hands of the states. Hmm, more states rights? Let the states make laws forbidding this kind of stuff.

States rights are great.  That said I happen to beleive that the provisions of The Constitution trump the states.  The takeings clause spells out the the purpose of ED is to provide for public use not increased property values for private parties and a better tax base.  I think they dropped the ball entirely.  To say The Constitution applies only to the federal government is to say that Montana can sell you into slavery or execute you by meat grinder after sun baking you for a week just as long as thier own laws don't prevent it.  I find that pretty hard to swallow as the force behind the rights in the document.

All that is needed is a few hundred shooting from property owners resisting 'gubment seizure. It's time to find out of American homeowners are willing to act like citizens or subjects.

VOTE FROM THE ROOF TOPS

Courts just interpret the law.  Can't we put pressure on congress to pass a law SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITING using ED to take land for commercial use?

This is bullcrap, and I wonder where the outrage is, other than on this board.

I was born and raised in Long Branch NJ and I can tell you the city as a whole (politically) is as corrupt as you have ever seen.

The town was corrupted originally by local mob guys and then by bribe offering contractors.
When I was building it was typical for code and building inspectors to blatantly ask for "a small token to make things run smooth"

My cousin is a builder there, he only has problems in Long Branch because he won't play their game.
The Mayor of West Long Branch just got indicted for bribe taking and his brother is on the town council of Long Branch.

www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050825/NEWS01/508250485  

Quoted: Quoted: I thought Eminent Domain was only if the Guberment wanted to buy steal your land and use it for roads and what not? Now they can seize your house and give it to a business or real estate developer for a song. You see, a big business or bunch of rich folks in houses pay more taxes than poor and middle class people do. And according to the SC, more tax money is in the public good "welfare". This is because 5 people decided to shit on the Constitution. Any public official that actually tries to use this is, imo, violating their oath and should swing.