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July 15, 2011
Supreme Court judge orders new study of Atlantic Yards impact
The Brooklyn Paper
by Daniel Bush
A judge handed Atlantic Yards opponents a minor victory this week, ordering a new environmental review of Bruce Ratner’s $4.9 billion project — but one that is unlikely to halt the development of the under-construction Barclays Center.
On Wednesday, Supreme Court Judge Marcy Friedman ruled that the state acted illegally in 2009 when it approved the plan for the 22-acre Prospect Heights site without assessing the long-term impacts that its 25-year build-out would have on surrounding neighborhoods.
...Friedman ordered the Empire State Development Corporation to conduct a new environmental study of the post-arena phase of the project, which consists of 11 additional high-rises slated to go up west of Sixth Avenue.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, After calling previous win in timetable case a "meaningless victory," the Brooklyn Paper deems latest decision "minor victory"
My comment on the latest article:
You can call the victory "minor" in the sense that it will have a minor impact on the project under construction. It could have a much larger impact on Phase II.
But it is much more than a minor victory in court, if you consider that judges almost always defer to government agencies, which need merely a "rational" basis for their decisions. The ESDC's ten-year timeline didn't pass that very minimal "rational" basis test.
Why should it have passed that test? After all, the ESDC's own CEO, in April 2009, admitted that Atlantic Yards would take "decades."
In other words, the decision confirms the belief--at least among many opposing the project or watching it closely--that the state has leaned over backward to accommodate the developer, Forest City Ratner.
But wait, there's more...
GlobeSt.com, Court Ruling Puts Part of Atlantic Yards Project on Hold
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn scored a victory in a New York State Supreme Court Tuesday in its fight to force Forest City Ratner Cos. to re-imagine its Atlantic Yards project.
...Jeff Baker, an attorney for DDDB, tells GlobeSt.com that he hopes the delay will provide time to re-evaluate the project.
“What it means at a minimum is that they have to go back and do a further environmental review and make the necessary findings to go forward with Phase II,” he says. “It’s an opportunity now, with a new administration, to take a fresh look at the project and do a better scale and a better structured development that will redevelop the area but not create a monstrosity or doom it to a protracted, 25 years or more construction schedule.”
...Candace Carponter, the DDDB legal director, says that she’s not worried about Judge Friedman’s ruling being overturned. “She was very careful in writing this decision to make sure that it was unassailable on appeal,” Carponter says. “I believe that it will not be overturned. I’m not even sure that the ESDC will attempt to appeal it because I think it is such a strong decision.”
WNYC, More Delays Possible for Atlantic Yards
"We're satisfied with this decision," said attorney Jeff Baker who represents the group Develop - Don't Destroy, Brooklyn, which brought the suit. "We wish it had come a bit earlier because it could have stopped the whole project."
Metro Focus, Timeline: Atlantic Yards Grows, Slows in Brooklyn
Posted by eric at July 15, 2011 11:16 AM