Is the cost of environmental cleanup cost factored into the value of land? Like most abandoned rail lines, the embankment must be a toxic pile of dirt and rocks. If construction or removal of the embankment were to take place is there a public health risk to the neighborhood from the dust?

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It would be very expensive. Eminent domain still requires "just compensation", which theoretically is market price but in practice is often well above market prices. Either way, a lot more expensive than the current method of making rather dubious but apparently judicially accepted legal claims to invalidate the prior sale.

You can only do eminent domain based on market value. If you remember about 5 or 6 years ago, Peter Mocco had to pay extra dollars to the owners in which the JCRA condemned land for him. While I don't remember the exact figure, I believe Mocco had to pay $25 million more to the former owners. And that was based on old figures.

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Because the owner wants to develop it??

If the city did eminent domain, it would not cost $3 million, the cost that Hyman paid. Hyman would have the land evaluated and I am sure you will see zeros behind the $3 million.

can't jc invoke eminent domain? if so, why not? if not, why not?

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You should start a "keep JC crappy" campaign. Who doesn't want to live in a stagnant or declining place instead of a growing, improving locale?

Personally, I'm kind of upset that this implies several more years before anything actually happens.

This just got strange.

Honestly... I would support them doing almost anything with the embankment that limits bringing more affluent people to the hood. lol

Next hurdle in Jersey City's battle to acquire the Sixth Street Embankment cleared

By Michaelangelo Conte | The Jersey Journal
September 24, 2014 at 7:50 AM

The Jersey City City Council passed an ordinance last night furthering the decade-long battle to wrest control of the Sixth Street Embankment from the developer who purchased it from Conrail for $3 million, but the attorney for the developer made it clear that he is not giving up.

?We are informed and moving forward. I vote aye,? said Council President Rolando Lavarro of the ordinance that authorized the city to make an Offer of Financial Assistance to the Surface Transportation Board to begin running freight trains again on the embankment or for other public use such as open space.

In the event the OFA is accepted by the STB, the ordinance authorizes the city?s corporate counsel to solicit proposals including for construction or operation of interim freight rail facilities.

It also says that if the city successfully acquires the embankment through the OFA process, the city is authorized to solicit proposals from consultants to prepare plans for restoration of the freight line for ?rail purposes to the extent practicable with other public purposes.?

Before the vote, more than a dozen residents spoke at the hearing and said they were in favor of the ordinance because they want the embankment to be used as a park.

Dan Horgan, the attorney for the developer, said that the city?s proposal to the STB offering to operate a freight line on the embankment is untrue.

Horgan said the ordinance was aimed directly at robbing his client?s property and ?You are willing to do this because you?ve been told it?s a cheap way to confiscate my client?s property so that a few people in the most affluent ward of the city can have another park.

?You can condemn it for a park, but you have to pay for it,? Horgan continued. ?Your minds are closed to what you are doing. Do freight trains make sense on Sixth Street? Of course not. You will have to promise that (to the STB), only to later say, ?Well, not really. We want a park.??

The latest twist in the struggle to control the embankment came earlier this year when a court ruled that Conrail had no right to sell the rail line and that only the STB could authorize that.

James Riffin, who is from Baltimore and is in the business of running rail lines, also spoke at the meeting advocating revival of the rail line and cautioned the city against misrepresenting itself to the STB.

?If you fail to provide freight service, the STB has a problem with that,? Riffin said after the hearing.

The ordinance says that if the STB accepts the OFA and allows the city to acquire the embankment, ?The city must continue efforts to provide freight rail service on the line for two years before it may seek discontinuance of service.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... t_embankment_cleared.html

Cool! That would bring some freight line drifters into the neighborhood.

Any word on the discussions of last night meeting?

I know it was closed door, but was kind of hoping for something inflammatory from someone who knows nothing.

I love that some people are getting all worked up that the city might put a freight line there. I mean, really, does that make sense to anyone? Relax, folks. Nothing to see here.

I think the key here is 'eminent domain.'

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From the article:

"EDITOR?S NOTE: This article has been updated to explain the STB definition of an OFA, and acknowledge other language in the ordinance leaving open other options for the future of the Sixth Street Embankment."

Looks like it might just be a part of their legal strategy to get the land.

Fulop is obviously buying the place so he can build a freight line to bring the Marines faster for our security... Seriously this may be at least an attempt to bring some resolution to this situation we have been Embarked in for too long. You can't blame him for that - yet.

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Exactly so. Where exactly is the end point for this freight line? Are they planning on using the Little League field for loading an unloading?

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Let's use a little common sense here, do you really think that Fulop is going to build a 6 block long freight line?

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It's not true. Either Hudson County View is purposely disseminating false information or someone (likely this clown developer) is doing so. Regardless- utterly false. This Hudson County View appears to be a National Enquirer-caliber "news" source.

Yeah, this article seems more like propaganda in advance of Monday's meeting. They don't even cite references/sources or who they're getting the info from. I'm calling BS.

the article is not very clear about the ordinance on the agenda, Ord 14.103 which states -

"to acquire title to the following property for purposes of continued freight rail or other compatible public purposes including passenger rail, open space, trail and historic preservation."


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http://hudsoncountyview.com/fulop-adm ... -sixth-street-embankment/

Somebody please tell me this isn't true.

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He seems like a jerk. But holy holey, cut a deal already and stop wasting time and money on the litigation. Even if he can develop some of the area and a park goes on the rest, that's far better for Jersey City than this eternal stalemate.

Hyman comes off as such a clown when he talks about this in interviews.

Bright and Varick? Waahhhhh parking!!

Hudson County View:

http://hudsoncountyview.com/lavarro-o ... embankment-bright-varick/

Well you got the pipeline.

The city has been trying to bust that Hyman for years, it's been really hard-on them.

From what I can tell - JC overwhelmingly wants the Embankment as a park

Hyman is a dick (hehe)

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Wow- I thought he was just your average real estate developer but this guy comes off as an enormous jerk! The definition of a rail line is not esoteric at all, wtf is he talking about? It's actually a fairly well-defined term in US jurisprudence and the law the court cited is also very clear.

Question- does anybody in Jersey City actually side with his a-hole? I imagine he knows the locals generally despise him, but does he actually have any local support?

This quote is the best: "I saved the property...from becoming a park." What a savior! Thank god you prevented a beautiful privately-funded park from being developed in Jersey City.