Politics & Government

Judge Calls for Additional Review of Atlantic Yards Project

The ruling was a victory for anti-Atlantic Yards activists

The Barcalys Center may be flying up, but today opponents of the mega project saw a small victory.

A court decision issued Wednesday by State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman ruled that the New York State Empire State Development Corporation, which oversees the Atlantic Yards project, acted illegally when it approved changes to the Atlantic Yards project in 2009 that increased the construction timetable from 10 years to 25 years. Friedman blasted the ESDC for approving the plan without studying the potential impacts of more than doubled construction time.

In her decision, Friedman railed against the ESDC, saying that  “continuing use of the 10 year build date [that] was not merely inaccurate; it lacked a rational basis given the major change in deadlines reflected in the MTA and Development Agreements.”

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Friedman has ordered the ESDC to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) hold a public hearing on the SEIS and ultimately reconsider the entire 2009 plan in light of the new findings.

In December the ESDC the need for any additional impact study, but Friedman said that the alternative “Technical Analysis” was “silent as to the impacts on neighborhood character and socioeconomic conditions of vacant lots, above ground arena parking and constructing staging, which may persist not merely for a decade, but, as petitioners aptly put it, for a generation.”

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In light of the decision, the petitioners called on Governor Cuomo to investigate the Atlantic Yards project.

This decision sends a clear message that no state authority or politically-connected real estate developer can be above the law when the future of our neighborhoods hangs in the balance,” said Jo Anne Simon, Democratic Leader of the 52nd District, in a statement. “We expect an investigation into how this was allowed and call on Governor Cuomo to now take decisive action in reforming oversight of Atlantic Yards, ESDC’s largest project.”

Twenty-six community and neighborhood organizations, local elected officials, and community members filed suit against Atlantic Yards mega developer Forest City Ratner in November 2009, led by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. In March 2010, Friedman ruled in favor of ESDC and FCR, but the case was reopened after it was revealed that the project’s 2009 master plan made no guarantees that construction would be finished within 10 years. The petitioners have long-argued that decades of construction will have a negative impact of the neighborhoods in the footprint of the mega project.

“It was clear to us that the approval of the plan was rushed through illegally in order to enable FCRC to meet a deadline necessary for its arena bond financing,” said Al Butzel of the Urban Environmental Law Center, which represented the BrooklynSpeaks sponsors, in a statement.

"While the Court felt it could only reverse the approvals for Phase II and require a new environmental review, it is time for Governor Cuomo to assert control over the ESDC and the project site and require a complete reassessment of the Atlantic Yards project," said DDDB attorney Jeffrey S. Baker. "We regret that the Arena is going forward. However, the project was never justified in phases. All of the purported benefits would have come from full development, not a stand-alone arena and a couple of high-rises.”

Forest City Ratner wasn’t quite as keen on the ruling—and the company plans to forge ahead.

 “While we disagree with the decision, “ said Joe DePlasco, a spokesperson for the developer, “it does not stop us from continuing work on the project and will not impact our current construction schedule. The arena is scheduled to open, as planned, in September, 2012 and we are working aggressively to start the residential portion of the project.”


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