The New York City that I grew up with and loved is dying. The new version may be glossier, cleaner, and MTV-hip, but in my opinion it’s just California Lite — without the sunshine.

Neighborhoods that once groomed the gritty characters that permeated the old detective novels and noir films are being gentrified by a new breed of resident. This latest brand of New Yorker is wealthy, politically correct, and much less interesting.

The words “eminent domain” should strike fear into the hearts of every American who owns or dreams of owning property. When the Supreme Court rendered its obscene 2005 ruling in Kelo v. City of New London, which expanded the reach of eminent domain, it allowed governments to seize personal properties to generate tax revenue from private developers.

In her dissent, Justice O’Connor wrote: “It holds that the sovereign may take private property currently put to ordinary private use, and give it over for new, ordinary private use, so long as the new use is predicted to generate some secondary benefit for the public — such as increased tax revenue, more jobs, maybe even aesthetic pleasure.” She rightly decried the decision, which she said bowed to the rich and powerful at the expense of the middle class.

The court suggested in a coda to its ruling that property owners turn to the states to impose appropriate limits to economic development seizures. Ha: That’s like putting a wolf in charge of a hen house.

Last year, I wrote about the businesses in the Bronx Terminal Market facing eviction to make way for the Gateway Center, a project that was part of a sweetheart deal hatched without requests for public proposals or competitive bidding. Now, neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn are being dismantled and thousands of employees of the small businesses there face the loss of their jobs.

One such area is Willets Point, which Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff says is in such disrepair that the city will pursue eminent domain. Mayor Bloomberg recently called the area, also known as the Iron Triangle because of its concentration of auto-parts and auto-repair shops, a “blight on the city.”

One of the businesses facing eviction is the House of Spices, a family-owned business since 1970 with more than 100 employees, many of them living in close proximity to work. Its vice president, Neil Soni, asks, “Who created the blight? The city will not provide adequate services here. … After neglecting the area for so long, they now call it a blight.”

Dan Feinstein of Feinstein Iron Works, another endangered business, said, “We are part of an active business district and we refuse to be steamrolled by the city on the grounds that no economic engines exist here. Why is the city bullying small businesses?”

I spoke to Tony Fodera of Fodera Foods, whose grandfather started the business in 1930 after coming to America from Sicily in the early 1900s “to find work and live the American Dream.” Mr. Fodera is another owner who alleges that it is the city that is responsible for the blight. “New York City has neglected and ignored Willets Point for decades,” he said. “Where else in the city can you find a neighborhood so neglected; without a sanitary sewer system and an inadequate storm system? Snow removal, grass cutting, pothole repair are nonexistent. There is no police and sanitation presence. The city has systematically withheld services from Willets Point for decades because it had a grand plan for redevelopment.”

New York City officials, who seem to believe that the government should bestow tax credits and subsidies for favored businesses, are imperiling many of the neighborhoods that house the lower middle class — the salt of the earth denizens, the real New Yorkers.

Willets Point, Bronx Terminal Market, Atlantic Yards, Brooklyn Navy Yard: I’m sure there will be many other areas of New York City that are deemed a “blight” and a prime candidate for government seizure for redevelopment. Can we expect reasonably priced housing to be built on the vacated land? I don’t think so. Sports arenas and luxury condominiums are the more likely options.

As I ride the no. 1 bus uptown, I pass the storefronts of quaint small businesses ranging from palm readers to shoe repair shops. I can’t help feeling they’re all doomed to make way for our new, improved metropolis. Interestingly, the New York Times, that great liberal champion of the little man, took advantage of government seizure when it wanted to build its new Eighth Avenue headquarters. Fifty-five businesses, including several mom-and-pop stores, were evicted against their will to clear the “blighted area” for the new skyscraper.

Wake up New Yorkers: Eminent domain may be considered constitutional, but it can also be unjust and immoral.