Tough cases made bad law

Reader comment on: Frank Brandeis Gilbert

Submitted by Andrew Terhune (United States), May 18, 2022 12:04

I'm as pleased as anyone that Grand Central remains the icon and hub that it has always been. Nonetheless, the case, Penn Central Transportation Co v. City of New York, although it helped save Grand Central, also decimated property rights and the protections of the 5th Amendment that "private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation".
New York could simply have offered "just compensation" and there would have been no case. But NY wanted to have its cake and eat it too, denying Grand Central's owners their right to improve their property without NY having to pay for it. Regrettably, the courts have stuck with the logic of this case to the detriment of private property owners for half a century.

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