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April 6, 2007
Yards get new suits
Brooklyn arena opponents ask Spitzer to toss OKs given by Pataki boards
NY Daily News
By Jotham Sederstrom
A lawsuit filed yesterday in State Supreme Court by 26 groups charges that an environmental analysis conducted on Gov. Pataki's watch got the facts wrong, and they want Spitzer to reassess the $4.2 billion project.
"This lawsuit, when it succeeds, will restart the entire environmental review process," said Jim Vogel, a member of the East Pacific Block Association, a group involved in the suit against Forest City Ratner and city and state agencies, including the Empire State Development Corp.
The plaintiffs charge the study failed to include significant public feedback while also incorrectly labeling the Prospect Heights site as blighted. They also outlined nine other flaws, including:
- That the privately leased arena should not have been deemed a "civic project" by the ESDC.
- That the Public Authority Control Board, the three-member panel charged with evaluating the plan's finances, did not fully consider its impact.
- That the analysis failed to consider the threat of a terrorist attack at the 22-acre project.
- That the analysis failed to consider alternate sites, such as Coney Island, or the impact of wind at the site. These were studied only after the analysis was issued.
- That the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which owns the railyards, failed to notify the ESDC of alternative proposals or fully consider the impact of things such as traffic and its the burden on surrounding neighborhoods.
The lawsuit also seeks to annul the environmental impact statement and halt construction until the case has been decided.
Posted by lumi at April 6, 2007 11:13 AM