It didn't come as a shock to some, but New London doesn't seem prepared to absorb the hit. Pfizer Inc. announced that it will close its New London research and development facility within two years - the same time frame for the end of a sweet tax deal between the drug maker and the city. Groton stands to benefit, with the transfer of 1400 jobs across the Thames. Consider the bitter eminent domain battle over the adjacent Fort Trumbull neighborhood between a handful of city residents fighting displacement and the New London Development Council. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of NLDC. That did not make city officials look good at all, win or lose. Even if you accept Pfizer's claim that they were not the driving force throwing people out of their homes, it is obvious the city was determined to make the Fort Trumbull area more development - yes, corporate - friendly. Now we have the prospect of a huge, empty corporate complex with few takers and the fresh memory of a neighborhood involuntarily uprooted. True, no one may have forecast this economic downturn and part of this harbor area was cleaned up in the process. The developers and corporate folks have that point, but we seem to be back to square one. Anyone want to rent some nice waterfront property?
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