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March 5, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
New Jersey Eminent Domain Law Blog, Proponents of Atlantic Yards win Appellate round
The issuance of deference given to the blight findings of the lower court is important. In fact, the contract with AKRF, the consultant hired to perform the blight study, required the study of market trends around the project site which were never completed. The courts should not be rubber-stamping blight findings based on deference to the initial fact finder. Substantial credible evidence should be the standard. The New Jersey Supreme Court in Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro (A-51-2006) clarified the standard, reversing the blight finding in that case and issuing an opinion which has become precedential in terms of what the courts should be considering with regard to blight determinations. See blog post about blight determination in Gallenthin. The New York Court of Appeals would do well to grant certification in this case.
Noticing New York, Missing a Leg To Stand On: ESDC Didn’t Consider Developer Profit, the Main Thing Atlantic Yards is About
The Atlantic Yards plaintiffs had pointed out that there was no evaluation or record of what the private benefit of the project will be to Ratner even though this is something New York courts have previously found to be required by the New York State Constitution. Picking up on their point, Presiding Justice Robert Spolzino, during oral argument asked ESDC attorney Charles Webb if “ESDC articulated the balance between private and public benefit.”
There’s no requirement of such a finding, Webb said.
Pressed by Spolzino Webb said: “I don’t believe there is. There’s no reason to. They don’t have to.”
Not long after that ESDC attorney Philip Karmel took the oral argument podium and compounded the earlier ESDC admission, saying that ESDC had neglected to “explicitly lay out the private benefit.”
All of which is to say that ESDC first allowed Ratner to fill in the sky-is-the limit blank check and then was not the slightest bit interested in taking a peek to see the amount the developer filled in.
FastCompany.com, Dark Days for Frank Gehry
Meanwhile, two of his projects were put on indefinite hold: A mixed-use development near his iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Atlantic Yards project. Sad news all around for architecture buffs—and likely not the last of it.
DesignApplause!, Frank Gehry. Poor me.
Frank Gehry. Poor me. Global recession sucks big time. Lays of 50% of staff.
The Atlantic Yards project, 16 towers, if not in the toilet, on hold.
The Villager, Scoopy's Notebook
ACORN’s attorney: Arthur Schwartz, of Community Board 2, was recently named general counsel for ACORN nationwide. The grassroots community activist group has 400,000 members. Schwartz, one of the city’s top union lawyers, said he’ll be scaling back a bit on that front to focus on his new job. “They pick their issues,” he said of ACORN. “They support Atlantic Yards; they negotiated a deal with Ratner to get jobs, affordable housing. They’re an integral part of the Working Families Party.”
...What about his previously announced “next career” of becoming a political consultant? Schwartz said he’s still working on a few races, including City Councilmember Alan Gerson’s re-election campaign and Bill de Blasio’s race for Public Advocate.
Popo in my crib, Could the Nets be headed to Newark?
The decision to leave the Izod Center behind for the greener pastures of Newark seems to me to be a more likely scenario than going to Brooklyn. For one, the newly built facility offers the luxury boxes many sports team drool over and as I have experienced, a nicer concourse, better food and nicer seats than the Izod Center for spectators to enjoy. And unlike the Barclays Center, it’s already built and in use by a major sports team – the Devils.
Posted by eric at March 5, 2009 3:58 PM