Metro

Wrong from blight

In a little-noticed ruling that could pack a punch for property owners, a judge has blasted the city for abusing eminent domain in its bid to seize buildings in East Harlem — yet says there’s nothing he can do about it.

In a searing statement, Justice James Catterson of the state Appellate Division accused the city of falsely claiming “blight” as a ploy to transfer private property to developers.

But New York’s lower courts are powerless to stop it, said Catterson, thanks to prior rulings from the state Court of Appeals on eminent-domain cases related to Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards development and Columbia University’s West Harlem expansion.

“In my view, the record amply demonstrates that the [East Harlem] neighborhood in question is not blighted . . . and that the justification of under-utilization is nothing but a canard to aid in the transfer of private property to a developer,” Catterson said of the city’s argument that it can grab two blocks between 125th and 127th streets along Third Avenue because the area is economically depressed.

“Unfortunately for the rights of the citizens affected by the proposed condemnation, recent rulings . . . have made plain there is no longer any judicial oversight of eminent-domain proceedings,” the justice wrote.

Catterson and a panel of four other Appellate Division justices dismissed the matter of Uptown Holdings vs. New York City on Oct. 12, 2010, infuriating the half-dozen East Harlem merchants who had brought the lawsuit hoping it would save their livelihoods.

“What this means is that no small business in this city is safe — if you think you are, you’re fooling yourself,” fumed Evan Blum, owner of local business Demolition Depot.

A spokeswoman for the city Economic Development Corp. said the $700 million project slated for that area will provide much-needed jobs, services and housing.

When finished in 2016, the East Harlem Media, Entertainment and Cultural Center should have 600 affordable-housing units, a plaza, a hotel, retail space and 30,000 feet of “community and cultural space,” the city said.

Uptown Holdings plans to appeal the ruling.

gotis@nypost.com