wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

you mentioned briefly at the end of this interview, Willets Point,the area next to Shea Stadium.
It didn't sound like you've ever been there. This is blocks and blocks of automotive places. It harkens back to another time. It's the only place you can get automotive work done at a fraction of the cost of anywhere else in town.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9105035733972055903&hl=en

Columbia University took the beautiful apt building on Riverside Dr in which I lived as a child with WWII refugee parents in the 1950's. Moving down the street ultimately meant we moved to the burbs and of course what a change in the course of life that was. They could have taken one of the crummy buildings instead. So that was eminent domain. Maybe the last time it was a good thing was when wooden prairie homes were pushed over to build RR's in the 19th c. Amazing what Americans tolerate.

deleware water gap
seized homes, never build dam/lake

Heh...both the host and the guest are probably right about where the eminent domain restriction/protection is found in the U.S. Constitution. The line "nor shall private property be taken for public, without just compensation," is in the 5th Amendment, but it probably applies against the states via the 14th Amendment.

(I'm assuming this because that's usually how the Bill of Rights works. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)