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June 2, 2010
Columbia eminent domain case draws heated arguments, frequent references to Atlantic Yards cases
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder provides the blow-by-blow of yesterday's argument in the New York State Court of Appeals over the Columbia University eminent domain case.
In the highly contested 40-minute oral argument yesterday in the Columbia University eminent domain case, attorneys significantly reprised arguments in the briefs, with frequent references to the Atlantic Yards case the Court of Appeals decided last November.
I didn’t make it to Albany and none of the city’s three daily newspapers sent a reporter. That’s dismaying, given that the Appellate Division’s surprising and contested rejection of the Empire State Development Corporation’s eminent domain findings was big news last December.
The bottom line of the argument is unclear, given there are various strands of argument. In other words, if the court upholds the ESDC on its finding of blight--as is not unlikely, given its decision in the AY case--it could find other reasons to block Columbia.
Related coverage...
Columbia Spectator, Court of Appeals grills state on M'ville blight, civic purpose of expansion
After more than six years of buildup, the fate of eminent domain in Manhattanville came down to 45 minutes in a small courtroom in Albany.
On Tuesday, the seven judges of the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, heard oral arguments on whether the state should be allowed to invoke eminent domain—the process of seizing private properties for a “civic purpose” in exchange for market-rate compensation—on Columbia’s behalf. The University plans to build a 17-acre campus in West Harlem, but two business owners, who represent about 9 percent of the land in the expansion zone, have refused to sell their properties.
Former New York Civil Liberties Union director Norman Siegel argued on behalf of Tuck-It-Away Self-Storage owner Nick Sprayregen and gas station owners Gurnam Singh and Parminder Kaur, and attorney John Casolaro represented the Empire State Development Corporation, the body that approved eminent domain for the project in December 2008.
Sprayregen, Singh, and Kaur challenged that approval in court in January 2009, and last December, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division declared eminent domain in Manhattanville illegal in a 3-2 decision, which ESDC immediately appealed.
That brought the fight to the Court of Appeals, where Siegel called on the judges to uphold the Appellate Division ruling on several bases: one, that ESDC declared the neighborhood “blighted” in “bad faith” and based on faulty methodology; two, that there was “collusion” between ESDC and Columbia, because ESDC hired a company to conduct a blight study when that company was also a contractor for the University; three, that the expansion of a private university does not constitute a “civic purpose”; and four, that Sprayregen’s due process rights were violated when ESDC refused to turn over certain documents requested under the Freedom of Information Law in time for them to be included in the record for this case.
AP via Victoria Advocate, NY top court considers Columbia expansion plan
A state redevelopment agency urged New York's top court on Tuesday to approve its use of eminent domain so Columbia University can expand its Ivy League campus over 17 acres in West Harlem.
At oral arguments, Empire State Development Corp. attorney John Casolaro said the Court of Appeals should overturn a divided lower court and conclude this constitutes an appropriate civic project for educational purposes where the state can take land, even when the land goes to a private, not-for-profit institution.
"The Legislature has indicated this is a proper public purpose," Casolaro said.
NoLandGrab: Casolaro meant, of course, that the unelected, unaccountable ESDC had made that determination (surprise, surprise) — not the Legislature.
Bwog, Manhattanville Goes To NY Court of Appeals
This is kinda-sorta-maybe-it!
As you may recall, December brought a major obstacle to Columbia’s dreams of expansion: the New York State Supreme Court decided 3-2 that that state could not use eminent domain to secure parts of West Harlem for Manhattanville. The Empire State Development Corporation, the only major defendant in December’s case, has appealed the decision with the Columbia administration’s support.
...In November, the New York Court of Appeals gave the uber-fraught Atlantic Yards a 6-1 approval of use of eminent domain, but the Atlantic Yards project did not stumble in the NY Supreme Court like Manhattanville has.
A decision is expected this summer, which could mean this month and could also mean three months from now.
Crain's NY Business, Court date set for Columbia eminent domain case
Last November, the same judges that will hear the Columbia case ruled that eminent domain could be used to clear the Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn so that developer Forest City Ratner could build a huge mixed-use project there.
However, experts say the Atlantic Yards decision doesn't guarantee a similar outcome because there are numerous differences between the two cases. For starters, the opponents of Columbia using eminent domain won in the lower court, unlike their counterparts in the Atlantic Yards case. Last December, in a strongly worded opinion, the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division said it would be unconstitutional to use eminent domain to benefit “a private, elite education institution.”
“You are never the favorite when you are seeking a reversal,” said Scott Mollen, a partner at law firm Herrick Feinstein, who isn't involved in the case.
Posted by eric at June 2, 2010 10:00 AM