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March 1, 2010
BREAKING! Judge rules against Yards property owners, paving way for construction
The Brooklyn Paper
by Stephen Brown
State development officials can seize properties in the footprint of developer Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project through eminent domain, a state court ruled on Monday morning, removing the most significant legal hurdle remaining before construction can begin on the Barclays Center arena.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Abraham Gerges ruled this morning that 14 claims asserted by condemnation opponents — including the timing of the condemnations, the legality of a modification of the Atlantic Yards project plan and even the state’s failure to use the words “public use” in a section over why the land is being condemned in the first place — had no “merit.”
Gerges’s ruling applies to properties that Ratner says he needs immediately to begin construction, including the home of project holdout Daniel Goldstein on Pacific Street and the building housing Freddy’s Bar on Dean Street.
The case was argued on Jan. 29. Gerges’s ruling was strictly on procedural grounds, contending that “the court is required to direct the immediate filing and entry of the order granting [the condemnations] unless there is merit to any of the [landowners’] defenses.”
With Gerges’s ruling, the street closures around the Barclays Center site will likely proceed quickly, though it is unclear when the actually taking of property will occur.
Posted by eric at March 1, 2010 12:21 PM