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May 6, 2010
For Columbia Expansion Appeal, State Looks to Atlantic Yards
NY Observer
by Eliot Brown
Columbia University's proposed 17-acre expansion is set for a test June 1, when the state's top court is scheduled to hear arguments on the use of eminent domain, a power that was ruled unconstitutional by a state appellate court in December in a humiliating blow for the Ivy League school and the state. (The scathing court decision labeled the state's argument that the area was blighted as "mere sophistry.")
Seeking to reverse the decision, the state's lawyers are arguing that the appellate court was far off-base, and ignored precedent set by the top court in November for the use of eminent domain for Atlantic Yards, the $4.9 billion housing and basketball arena project in Brooklyn.
Both sides--the state's development agency (funded by Columbia for this case), and landowners Nick Sprayregen and Gurnam Singh--have now submitted their briefs, and here's a look.
Posted by eric at May 6, 2010 12:37 PM