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October 11, 2007
Attorney Says Atlantic Yards Project Was Designed To Benefit a Private Developer
Federal Appeals Court Hears Eminent Domain Challenge
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Elizabeth Stull
Thirteen residents and property owners in the footprint of the proposed Atlantic Yards Project asked a federal appeals court yesterday to reinstate their case against the seizure of their properties by eminent domain.
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The plaintiffs’ attorney, Matthew Brinkerhoff, argued yesterday that any property taking would be unconstitutional because the project was designed by, and for the benefit of, Ratner’s private development company. Brinkerhoff told the three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the documents required to prove the case could only be obtained during the discovery phase of a federal trial.Although there is a similar action pending in the state courts, no discovery will be permitted in that case. That case names the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) as a defendant, but does not include other defendants named in the federal case, such as the governor and mayor.
“What would you hope to discover?” Judge Edward Korman, former chief judge of the federal Eastern District of New York, asked the plaintiffs’ lawyer yesterday.
Brinkerhoff said state and city governments used an illegitimate process to give Ratner the project.
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The project would still be constitutional even if the families discovered that an e-mail from a public official said: “I want to do this for my friend Mr. Ratner,” [ESDC attorney Preeta] Bansal said. And it would be still be legal to take the land and clear out the families even if “there might be an illicit motive lurking underneath.”The defense attorney argued that, “The plaintiffs confuse motive with purpose,” and called their discovery goals pretextual.
Posted by lumi at October 11, 2007 6:35 AM