Politics

WaPo columnist: NYC should take Trump Tower by eminent domain

Trump Tower
Trump Tower — Wikipedia

Talk about sour grapes!  On Monday, Washington Post opinion columnist Catherine Rampell whined about the existence of Trump Tower in New York City and suggested the city seize the building, just, well, because.

She wrote:

Froufrou Fifth Avenue resembles a police state.

Officers wielding gigantic guns guard Trump Tower, where President-elect Donald Trump conducts all transition business, and soon lots of presidential business, too. Shoppers patronizing the stores, cafes or public gardens inside must endure layers of security screening. Streets and sidewalks are barricaded; traffic is snarled; and costumed buskers milk money from the looky-loos obstructing the entrances to Gucci and Tiffany.

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

The challenges of securing this 58-story building in a high-density neighborhood will, by Inauguration Day alone, drain $35 million of local taxpayer money. Who knows the additional costs to commerce and property values?

The feds have thus far been stingy about footing the bill. Fortunately, I’ve come up with a solution that should warm the cockles of the president-elect’s heart: New York should use eminent domain to seize Trump Tower.

Her entire ridiculous screed can be easily summed up in one word: Waaaaaahhhhhhhh!

She added:

Lots of liberal elites believe our president-elect is a nuisance. In this case, though, the term has a specific legal meaning: any activity or physical condition that “obstructs, damages or inconveniences the rights of a community.” Crackhouses, brothels, foul smells and blocking of rights of way are common examples. So too might be scuppering one of the world’s top shopping destinations and placing a big ol’ terrorism target on its back.

Some case law even suggests that if the city allows Trump to continue to damage his neighbors, it will have effectively taken the neighbors’ property without just compensation. Which might suggest government has an obligation to act.

The best part about this “public nuisance” strategy (besides its name)? The city could condemn Trump Tower without having to pay Trump “just compensation.” It wouldn’t owe him a dime, in fact.

Newsbusters’ Tom Blumer noted:

Yeah sure, Catherine. Let’s just kick the guy who won the presidency out of his residence out of spite. Or even “better” (from her perspective), let’s just take it from him because it’s a “nuisance” and steal something worth $471 million — despite what his developments have done to improve New York City (and other areas worldwide) over a period of decades — just because you don’t like his politics.

Only the sorest of sore losers would see any degree of “humor” in this, let alone carry a perverse fantasy of poetic justice.

Hey, it’s the Washington Post — you know, the media outlet pushing the whole fake “fake news” brouhaha in a blatant effort to shut down conservative outlets…  What else can we expect?

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Joe Newby

A 10-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Joe ran for a city council position in Riverside, Calif., in 1991 and managed successful campaigns for the Idaho state legislature. Co-author of "Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad," Joe wrote for Examiner.com from 2010 until it closed in 2016 and his work has been published at Newsbusters, Spokane Faith and Values and other sites. He now runs the Conservative Firing Line.

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