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March 15, 2007
To fight $2000 fine for unsafe demolition, FCR sends top-gun lawyer to Brooklyn
Atlantic Yards Report
For a very serious blog, today's article is very amusing:
What was Jeffrey Braun, a hard-driving land use lawyer who represents major developers like Donald Trump and institutions like the Guggenheim Museum, doing Monday at a hearing of the city’s Environmental Control Board (ECB), the administrative tribunal that oversees violations issued by city agencies?
Well, Braun (right) also represents Forest City Ratner (FCR), and even though the penalty at issue was just $2000—surely less than the cost of getting Braun to Brooklyn—the developer’s challenge concerns perception as much as cash.
Here's the biggest point not scored by Braun (photo above):
Then Braun launched into an opening statement, admitting that the contractor had used a backhoe at 620 Pacific, which abutted an empty building, but said that was it. “To the best of our knowledge," he told the judge, "there was no use at 622 Pacific Street,” which abuts the occupied 624 Pacific Street.
But when confronted with photographic evidence to the contrary:
Braun pressed hard, questioning some photos that a city inspector found convincing, contending that a witness was biased.
NoLandGrab: Ratner and Braun really skew the curves for their respective professions — it's hard to predict which group Brooklynites might declare more loathsome, lawyers or developers.
Posted by lumi at March 15, 2007 8:54 AM