Roger That Community Garden May Be Developed

@mugofmead, I probably should have refined my argument. The value/cost difference comes into play when I use $8 of yarn and $30 of worth of my time/labor/talent to create an afghan rug, and then I charge $50 for the rug at a street fair in Crown Heights and $200 for the same rug at a street fair in Park Slope.

It is easier for them emotionally to keep this campaign up than unlearn it and try another vacant lot to occupy.  It is sad because there is another lot half a block away towards Bedford that would benifit the community too, if that is still the goal too.

Above, we had a brief discussion abot how much this lot is worth, and the developers request for $1M.

In light of the nearby corner lot on Rogers at Prospect Place selling for $1.2M, the developers request for $1M seems quite reasonable.
http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2015/02/five-story-building-planned-for-rogers-avenue-in-crown-heights/

Needless to say, the developers are likely unwilling to take $1M anymore. ...its value has continued to increase.

I'm going to miss Roger That. It was a welcome bit of green space in a neighborhood rapidly becoming generic condos and Mexican takeout places.

I must get a photo of that mural before it gets destroyed. I really wish we could save that since it's such a fixture of the block.

Any idea on the time frame for construction?

The garden had a sign up a couple of weeks ago offering keys to any new gardeners that wanted in, and a copy of a cease and desist letter their attorney sent to the owners last week posted to the front gate. Looks like they are determined to go down swinging, or at least to drag the owners into L&T court a couple of times before all this is through. 

It seems they may be realizing that this battle is lost.  Here's the filing:

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=1&passjobnumber=321120666&passdocnumber=01

Or, eminent domain:

"Roger That can be saved if the City invokes eminent domain and buys the property to preserve it as a Parks Department garden. Eminent domain has been used to create New York’s parks and open spaces dating at least back to 1807. Prospect Park, Central Park, the Ocean Parkway Greenway and Astor place are just a few of the over 350 condemnations for the creation or preservation of parks and open spaces that have been recorded in New York’s county courts. "

http://596acres.org/en/news/2015/04/13/for-immediate-release-new-yorks-ride-bikes-to-connect-gardens-under-threat/

a. The city has some oversight in how much a property is sold for, so that the seller and buyer do not understate the price in order to avoid taxes. However, it does not set a price. Instead, it has a loose "fair value" standard, and if the buyer passes it, the city will leave them alone. Note, the buyers may have paid off back taxes, fines and leins on the property. These may be enough to convince the city that the price was not set in a manner that jipped them any taxes. [Jipped is not a legal term ]

b. There is a procedure for evicting tenants (even squatters..) on non-residential properties. If the owners of the property can show that they followed said procedure, they will "win" the assistance of gov in getting the gardeners off the property.

...and be able to build whatever is allowed by the DOB.

Just to give some context, 865 Sterling Place between Nostrand and NY, a vacant shell that had a fire, just sold for $1.3 million.  To suggest that a vacant lot should sell for $10 plus some back taxes and fines is kind of silly.

Hmmm.  My mother has dementia and would sign away her inheritance for a ham sandwich if the right person asked her.  I wonder how the heirs of the plumber who sold a million dollar lot for $10 are feeling right now.  Perhaps someone should ask them.

Go get a POA for your mom if there isn't already one! If she's too far gone, petition for guardianship.

You are free to conclude that the person who sold this lot was taken advantage of, and that the buyer was a scoundrel.

Hundreds of years later, some people have concluded Peter Minuit was a scoundrel. Minuit is credited with purchasing the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans in exchange for traded goods valued at 60 guilders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit

The person who purchased Brooklyn, which included this garden, was seemingly less successful.

I suspect that is because of its storied history:

"When cops entered one location, at 865 Sterling Place, an officer fell through a makeshift trapdoor set up by the dealers and broke her arm."

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/crown-heights-bit-back-article-1.220274

I wonder if the person who owned the garden lot would have gotten a better price if it came with similar stories.

Nobody likes to evict gardeners, even curmudgeonly old judges.  After all,  the Supreme Court just upheld Obamacare and gay marriage..  Hell if that happened, anything can.

God forbid a garden is good for the community.  Central Park and Prospect Park seemed to have worked out OK.  Just narrowly interpreting the law isn't how folks get elected as judges.  Eventually they're supposed to serve the greater good of the community.

Capt-
Have fun on Tuesday. Let us know if you can get the judge to overturn property rights.

Property rights and consent seem to be two things consistently disliked by people who want something that isn't theirs.