Eminent domain

Riverhead officials defended a proposed eminent domain taking of the Long Island Science Center property during a contentious public hearing Wednesday night.

Riverhead Town has agreed to pay $170,000 to the operator of the downtown bar Craft’d in exchange for taking possession of its lease at 127 East Main Street, a town-owned building slated for demolition and redevelopment into a boutique hotel.

Craft’d, the popular downtown Riverhead bar, will close on Sept. 20 after Riverhead Town acquired the business’s lease this week through eminent domain.

The co-owner of downtown Riverhead bar Craft’d decried the town’s plan to acquire the business’s leasehold interest through eminent domain during a public hearing last Wednesday. 

Riverhead Town will end its effort to seize a blighted building on East Main Street from the Long Island Science Center, clearing the way for the nonprofit to build a new museum on the town square.

The Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday scheduled public hearings to acquire the East Main Street building owned by the Long Island Science Center and to buy out the lease of the downtown bar Craft’d using the town's power of eminent domain.

Riverhead Town is moving ahead with eminent domain proceedings to buy out the lease of the downtown bar Craft’d and acquire the East Main Street building owned by the Long Island Science Center, according to resolutions on the Town Board’s agenda today.

The Long Island Science Center’s president says Riverhead officials are obstructing the organization's plans to build a new museum on East Main Street, as the Town Board moves a step closer towards taking the nonprofit's property using eminent domain.

Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter is calling for the town board to move to condemn properties owned by a Brooklyn-based landlord. 'It's time to end the siege,' he said.