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October 15, 2009
Atlantic Yards Appeal Gets Intense in Albany
Eagle Reporter Goes Upstate for Oral Arguments
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Samuel Newhouse
The Eagle boils down the plaintiffs arguments before the NY State Court of Appeals:
According to Brinckerhoff, in total, there are three constitutional questions that the court must examine. They are: (1) does the state constitution provide greater protections to its citizens than does the U.S. Constitution, so that the use of eminent domain for Atlantic Yards does not sufficiently satisfy the public use clause; (2) if, without monetary figures showing how much Ratner himself is benefiting from the project, it is therefore impossible to weigh the public good versus the private benefit, as required by the court; and (3) how to interpret the unique 1938 amendment to the state constitution that says that when taking property, if state funds are being contributed to the project, then only low-income housing can be built.
Posted by lumi at October 15, 2009 5:29 AM