Who said land use decisions are not political decisions!

Occasionally, you run across a story that is impressive for all the wrong reasons. That is the case with the 20-acre site on the southern side of Delancey Street in New York. The site, know as Seward Park Urban Renewal Area was deliberately kept vacant and fallow by neighborhood political leaders and city hall,  because it would change the balance of power in this changing ethnic neighborhood. Its not surprising that these kind of governmental actions take place, but that you could keep 20-acres vacant and fallow in Manhattan for over 50 years. It should come as now surprise that land use decisions are political decisions, but 50 years of back room politics is stunning. The Time’s story is an interesting look behind the political curtain.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/nyregion/they-kept-a-lower-east-side-lot-vacant-for-decades.html?rref=nyregion&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region&pgtype=article