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August 4, 2009
Legal Round-up
NorthJersey.com, Another hurdle for Atlantic Yards project
The Bergen Record's John Brennan reports on the latest development in the legal challenge to the Atlantic Yards environmental review and blight study.
The Nets’ longstanding effort to move to Brooklyn ran into another potential legal hurdle on Tuesday, as a group opposed to the Atlantic Yards arena and housing project announced it has filed papers seeking to have the “blighted” designation of the area invalidated.
The Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn group asked the New York Court of Appeals to review whether a state agency has demonstrated so much “bias and corruption” that its description of the proposed Barclays Center arena site cannot be accepted.
The appeals court — New York’s highest court — agreed in June to consider overturning a ruling allowing eminent domain to be used at the 22-acre site.
“This is a completely different violation of the law,” said Develop Don’t Destroy spokesman Daniel Goldstein, who owns a condominium within the project’s footprint.
Nets officials have indicated that bonds backing most of the $850 million in construction costs of Barclays Center must be sold by the end of the year, with a groundbreaking required within the same time frame.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Hours Before Cutthroat Deadline, Atlantic Yards Opponents File Legal Papers in Court
The Eagle makes the timing sound dramatic, but it was hardly a nail-biter.
Opponents of Atlantic Yards, who are challenging the state’s use of eminent domain, were required to file their legal brief with the New York Court of Appeals by Friday. Otherwise, their year-long case would have been dismissed.
On Friday, just hours before the strict court-imposed deadline, the petitioners filed their appellant brief. The New York Court of Appeals, which is the state’s highest court will hear oral arguments on Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.
Matthew D. Brinckerhoff, the lead attorney for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), has requested 30 minutes for his argument in court. Attorneys for the developer, Forest City Ratner, will likely request the same amount of time when they file their respondents’ brief, which is due Sept. 10. Appellants’ reply brief, if any, is then due Sept. 25.
“The appellants’ brief compellingly outlines, starting in 1683, New York state’s founders’ and courts’ long history of strict constitutional adherence to using eminent domain for a ‘public use,’ such as highways, parks and firehouses, not for a ‘public purpose’ or ‘public benefit,’” wrote DDDB in a press release issued Monday.
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hiil], Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Brief Filed
Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project have filed a brief in their Court of Appeals eminent-domain challenge. The brief (read it here), filed Friday, asks the court to reject the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. New London eminent domain decision, arguing that the New York state constitution gives New Yorkers greater protection against the taking of their property than the U.S. Constitution does.
Posted by eric at August 4, 2009 9:15 PM