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WHAT'S PENDING as of August 14, 2008:
Slow
Economy Likely to Stall Atlantic Yards
NY Times. March 21, 2008
NJ
group explores bringing Nets to Newark
The Star-Ledger. May 1, 2008.
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August 4, 2008
- Goldstein et al. v. Empire State Development Corporation
Nine Property Owners and Tenants File Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Challenge
in New York State Court
Petitioners Seek to Prevent New York State’s Seizure of Their
Homes and Businesses by Eminent Domain
Click
to download pdf of the petition.
DDDB et al. v. ESDC et al.
State lawsuit against the Atlantic Yards Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) and approval.
Appeal argument to be held on September 17th, 2pm.
New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, First
Department
27 Madison Avenue at 24th Street
July 7, 2008
DDDB and 25 Co-Plaintiffs File Appeal in Lawsuit Against the Empire State
Development Corporation, MTA & PACB
Plaintiffs Seek to Overturn Supreme Court Decision on
Suit Seeking to Annul Fatally Flawed Environmental Impact Statement and
Approval of Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards Proposal
Click to download pdf of
the appeal
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June 23, 2008:
The US Supreme Court declined to accept the plaintiffs' petition.
The plaintiffs will pursue the defense of their rights in New York state
court. Press Release
Goldstein et a.
v. Pataki et al.
Federal Eminent Domain Lawsuit -11 Homeowners, business owners and tenants
are challenging the Constitutionality of NY State's use of eminent domain
to seize their properties.
On March 31, 2008, the plaintiffs
filed a petition to the United States Supreme Court to hear their
case.
The questions presented to the Court and the petition itself can be found
here.
Kelo
Sequel to Court
By Lyle Denniston. SCOTUSblog.com. April 1, 2008.
More coverage of the filing from the
Atlantic Yards Report and an roundup
of other coverage here.
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Previously:
DDDB et al. v. ESDC et al.
State lawsuit against the Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and approval
Preliminary appeal briefs are here.
The Appellate Court has set the appeal schedule. Plaintiffs are to file
their appeal briefs in July, and there will be an argument scheduled in
the September (2008) term.
More information
here.
On January 11th, State Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden issued her decision
against the community plaintiffs challenging the review and approval of
the Atlantic Yards project.
The judge's decision is here [pdf].
DDDB's press release is here.
We believe the case was wrongly decided and are appealing.
Atlantic Yards Report coverage is here.
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For Immediate Release: February 1, 2008
New York, NY— The Second Circuit Court today ruled against 14 homeowners,
business owners and tenants in their appeal of their lawsuit alleging
that New York State's use of eminent domain to take their properties for
Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards project violates the United States
Constitution.
Plaintiffs' attorney Matthew Brinckerhoff said, "Today's decision is disappointing.
We disagree with its conclusion. We intend to ask the US Supreme Court
to hear our case, and will continue to pursue every avenue available to
prevent the unlawful seizure of my clients' homes for Bruce Ratner's enrichment.
The court today affirmed that the government is free to take private homes
and businesses and give them to influential citizens as long as one can
imagine a conceivable benefit to the public, no matter how small or unlikely
it may be. Indeed, it does not matter if all evidence points to a secret
back room deal. All corrupt politicians need do to insulate themselves
from judicial scrutiny is claim a benefit to the public. This is wrong.
It should trouble all citizens who, unlike Bruce Ratner, lack the power
and money to coopt the governments' power of eminent domain for their
private use. We believe that the United States Supreme Court will welcome
the opportunity to clarify this area in light of its widely criticized
Kelo
decision."
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn legal director Candace Carponter said,
"Our support of the fight of citizens to live safely in their homes, and
operate safely in their business, will continue. We maintain that the
government's motivation in using eminent domain for Atlantic Yards is
not to benefit the public, but rather, to benefit a single, very rich
and powerful developer. The seizure of our neighbors' homes and businesses
is at the very foundation of the Atlantic Yards project. It is a foundation
that must not stand. Now is the time for our elected
leaders, who have frequently expressed grave concern about the abuse
of eminent domain, to publicly stand in defense of everyday Brooklynites
and New Yorkers."
The 2nd Circuit Court's opinion on the case, Goldstein v. Pataki,
can be found at: http://www.dddb.net/php/reading/legal/eminentdomain
On July 31st attorneys for plaintiffs on the federal
eminent domain lawsuit Goldstein v. Pataki filed their appeal
brief to the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs
are appealing Judge
Garaufis' June 6th decision.
On September 20th plaintiffs filed their reply to the defendants' response
to the appeal. That reply brief is here
[pdf]. All legal briefs since the case was filed in October 2006 are here.
Oral argument on the appeal was heard on October 9th. The three judge
panel can decide on the plaintiffs appeal any time. Press coverage of
the courtroom argument, and other related news, follows:
Appellate
judge's recusal may be good news for AY eminent domain plaintiffs
Atlantic Yards Report. January 16, 2008.
Moment
of Truth: Court to determine if Ratner gets land
Brooklyn Paper.
Atlantic
Yards case is strong
Editorial. Brooklyn Paper.
Eminent
domain appeal faces engaged but skeptical panel
Atlantic Yards Report
Judge
Hears Arguments In Brooklyn Eminent Domain Case
NY1
Brooklyn
lawyer: Arena not a public use
USAToday (AP)
U.S.
Court Hears Opponents of Atlantic Yards Argue for Reinstating Suit
NY Times
Arguments
Are Heard in Atlantic Yards Case
NY Times' City Room blog
WHAT'S PENDING as of October 4, 2007:
State Supreme Court Case Challening the Review & Approval of
"Atlantic Yards"
After the nearly 4-hour hearing for DDDB et.
al. v. ESDC et. al., a suit which seeks to annul the environmental
review and approval of "Atlantic Yards," Justice Madden said she
would try to have a decision within 4 to 6 weeks.On July 17 the court contacted
the attorneys for the parties to announce that the court clerk has changed
the case's designation from "standard" to "complex,"
and that Justice Madden has up to 120 days to render a decision. 120 days
from the May 3rd oral argument was on August 31st; which means that today
marks 154 days since the oral argument.
This means that a decision can come any time.
Federal Eminent
Domain Lawsuit
On July 31st attorneys for plaintiffs on the federal
eminent domain lawsuit Goldstein v. Pataki filed their appeal
brief to the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs
are appealing Judge
Garaufis' June 6th decision.
On September 20th plaintiffs filed their reply to the defendants' response
to the appeal. That reply brief is here
[pdf]. All legal briefs since the case was filed in October 2006 are here.
Oral argument on the appeal is scheduled for this Tuesday Oct.
9, at 10am at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan. Ceremonial Courtroom (9th
Floor). [Map]
WHAT'S PENDING as of August 23, 2007:
After the nearly 4-hour hearing for DDDB
et. al. v. ESDC et. al., a suit which seeks to annul the environmental
review and approval of "Atlantic Yards," Justice Madden said she
would try to have a decision within 4 to 6 weeks.Today, June 19, marks 10
weeks since the oral argument. On July 17 the court contacted the attorneys
for the parties to announce that the case has changed the case's designation
from "standard" to "complex," and that Justice Madden
has up to 120 days to render a decision. 120 days from the May 3rd oral
argument would take us to August 31st.
On July 31st attorneys for plaintiffs on the federal
eminent domain lawsuit Goldstein v. Pataki filed their appeal
brief to the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs
are appealing Judge
Garaufis' June 6th decision.
Oral argument on the appeal is scheduled for Oct.
9, 10am.
WHAT'S PENDING as of April 5, 2007:
On April 5 DDDB and 25 co-plaintiffs filed a lawsuit
in State Supreme Court seeking to annul the Environmental Review and approval
of the "Atlantic Yards" project. The named defendants are the
Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the Public Authorities Control
Board (PACB), the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and Forest
City Ratner. A summary of the lawsuit's causes of actions are
here.
Success in the suit would send "Atlantic Yards" back to the ESDC
for a complete or partial new environmental review and a new vote by the
PACB. But this time, all of that would occur under the reform-minded Spitzer
Administration.
Oral arguments in the Manhattan State Supreme Court House are scheduled
for May 3rd at 3:30 pm.
WHAT'S PENDING as of January 1, 2007:
On December 20th the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) voted to
approve the "Atlantic Yards" project, just 11 days before
Governor Pataki left office and despite an incredible dearth of pertinent
and crucial financial
information, housing guarantees, and many
unanswered questions.
This means that the project has passed its one and only political vote
by three-men-in-a-room.
Big questions remain:
1. Will Governor Spitzer and his Administration weigh
in?
2. There is a pending federal
eminent domain lawsuit, and the project cannot be built if the property
owners and tenants win their suit. Oral arguments for that lawsuit are scheduled
for February 7th in the Eastern District. Legal briefs can be found here.
3. A legal challenge to the Environmental Impact Statement
could come any day.
WHAT'S PENDING as of December 8, 2006:
The ESDC approved the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and
its findings, the findings and determinations under the state's Eminent
Domain Procedure Law (approving its use), and a modified General Project
Plan. All of those documents can be found here: www.empire.state.ny.us/atlanticYards.
Next up vote, which must be unanimous, by the Public
Authorities Control Board (PACB), which is controlled by the Governor,
the Assembly Speaker Silver, and the Senat Majority Leader Bruno. That
vote could occur on December 20th.
Lawsuits are expected on the FEIS. There is currently a federal lawsuit
challenging the constitutionality of the use of eminent domain for Atlantic
Yards. That case, filed
on October 26th, is in the Eastern District.
WHAT'S PENDING as of November 15, 2006:
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)
was released by the Empire State
Development Corporation (ESDC) on November 15, 2006. The very large document
can be found here: www.empire.state.ny.us/AtlanticYards/FEIS.asp
The ESDC is supposed to respond to every comment made by the public. Chapter
24 includes those commetns and responses: click
here to download the pdf of Chapter 24.
The ESDC now has a minimum of ten days to approve the findings of the FEIS.
That vote is expected sometime around November 28th. The ESDC will then
pass the project along to the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB).
The PACB vote–controlled by Assembly Speaker Silver, Senate majority
Leader Bruno, and the Governor–requires unanimity
for passage.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn intends to go to court to challenge the grossly
deficient FEIS.
Completed:
WHAT'S PENDING as of September
29, 2006:
The public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) has ended.
Enormous amounts of comments were submitted to the Empire State Development
Corporation (ESDC) by scores of organizations and hundreds of individuals.
Click here for links to some
of these comment submissions.
Now the ESDC must review all these comments and respond to them in a Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).
That FEIS could legally come out as soon as October 9, 2006, but with the
amount of responses submitted to ESDC that is highly unlikely. Though ESDC
is clearly trying to fast-track their approval we expect that the FEIS will
not be released until late October or November. But it is a sign of the
continuing non-public, and non-transparent process that the public does
not even receive basic information like a timeline.
Once the FEIS is released the ESDC Board will then vote to approve it which
is expected to be a rubberstamp. This would include approval of eminent
domain.
Then the Public Authorties Control Board (PACB)–comprised of Assembly
Speaker Silver, Senate Majority Leader Bruno and the Governor will have
to vote on the project.
As all of this is going on, lawsuits from the public are expected.
COMPLETED as of September 29, 2006:
Next
hearings scheduled on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS):
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 –
4:30 pm – 8 pm
at the New York City College of Technology (Klitgord Auditorium)
285 Jay Street, Brooklyn
We are urging people not to attend the 9/12 hearing. Here
is why
Monday, September 18,
2006 – 4:30 pm – 8 pm
at the New York City College of Technology (Klitgord Auditorium)
285 Jay Street, Brooklyn
COMMENTS
TO THE ESDC MUST BE SUBMITTED BY:
Written comments must be RECEIVED by the ESDC no later than 5:30 PM, Friday,
September 22, 2006. Send your comments (delivery receipt and signature requested)
to:
Atlantic Yards c/o ESDC
Empire State Develpment Corporation
633 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Email your comments (delivery receipt option selected) to:
atlanticyards@empire.state.ny.us
**PLEASE NOTE:
Please Email a copy of your DEIS submissions to:
cbrookynneighborhoods@hotmail.com.
Hard copy to:
Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods
201 Dekalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205.
THERE WAS A PUBLIC
HEARING FOR COMMENT ON THE DEIS
ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23RD
Click here for some of the testimony
submitted at the hearing.
• Download the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
•
Download the General Project Plan (GPP) |
State Environmental
Quality Review (SEQR). Ongoing...
The next step in the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process
will be the release of a Draft EIS (DEIS). The public then has
a chance to respond to the DEIS at a public hearing and officially within,
most likely, a 45 or 90 day period. |
March 31, 2006. Final Scope of Analysis
Released
Final
Scope of Analysis
Ratner
Press Release on the Final Scope of Analysis
Forest City Ratner Releases Final Scope
of Analysis saying proposal has been scaled down.
Well,
that is Orwellian as it has grown 659,000 sq. feet since it was unveiled
27 months ago, and it remains the BIGGEST project ever proposed
by a single developer in the history of New York City...
The plan remains an
urban planning disaster. It still continues to abuse and use the threat
of eminent domain. It is still out of scale, density and character with
its surroundings. It is still going through an unaccountable, backroom,
non-transparent, non-inclusive, undemocratic process. It would still overwhelm
its surrounding communities and pickpocket city and state taxpayers. And
it is still a destructive, publicly-subsidized,
backroom, sweetheart deal.
We will be reviewing the final scoping document over the next few days to
determine if it has included the massive amounts of community
response to the draft scope. What we have seen so far is that the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which might come out in late
May or early June, will include a point-by-point comparison to Extell's
community-based plan, the UNITY Community
Plan, and the Pacific
Plan.
|
Read the Council
of Brooklyn Neighborhoods Response to the ESDC regarding Atlantic
Yards Scoping. This is the document submitted to the ESDC. It also contains
the results of the recent survey. The pdf
file is 3.2 megs, and 325 pages long. Thank you to all those in the
community who submitted their input to CBN and the ESDC, and a big thank
you to CBN for the service they have done for the community with this document.
Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN)
Visit
Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods for more info... |
SCOPING
TESTIMONY AND RESPONSES BY:
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery,
18th District (pdf)
Assembly Member Joan
Millman, 52nd District
City
Council Member Letita James
Community
Board 8
Community Board 6 (pdf)
Council
of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, CBN (pdf)
Develop Don't Destroy
Brooklyn, DDDB (pdf)
The Fifth Avenue Committee
(pdf)
Fort Greene Association (pdf)
Municipal
Art Society (pdf)
Regional Plan Association
(RPA) (pdf)
Riverkeeper, Inc &
Columbia Environmental Law Clinic (pdf)
Ten
Point Plan for Community Board 8's Participation in ESDC’s State
Environmental Quality Review of FCRC’s BAY Development
"Borough
Board" meeting minutes. |
DRAFT SCOPE
of Analysis
The State
Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process has started with the
announcment below from the lead agency overseeing Ratner's project––The
Empire State Development Corporation.
The draft scope of analysis may be downloaded below. Comments
on the draft scope of analysis may be presented at the public scoping meeting
or written comments may be sent to the address listed below. Written comments
will be accepted until 5:00 P.M. on October 28, 2005.
Supporting Documents:
–– Notice
of Public Scoping and Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(pdf)
–– Draft
Scope of Analysis (pdf)
Atlantic
Yards Arena and Redevelopment Project
Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in conjunction with the City
of New York, New York City Economic Development Corporation and Forest City
Ratner Companies is pursuing the proposed Atlantic Yards Arena and Redevelopment
project. The proposed project involves the construction of a major mixed-use
development in the Atlantic Terminal area of Brooklyn, occupying an approximately
22-acre area, generally bounded by Flatbush, Atlantic, and Vanderbilt Avenues,
and Dean Street, together with a portion of the site known as Site 5 of
the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Plan, on a block bounded by Flatbush
Avenue, 4th Avenue, and Pacific Street. æThe proposed project includes an
arena for use by the Nets professional basketball team, as well as residential,
office, retail, hotel, open space, and parking uses.æ The proposed project
would also include the complete redevelopment of the existing Long Island
Rail Road Vanderbilt Rail Yard, and construction of a new entrance to the
Atlantic Terminal subway station at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush
Avenues. ESDC proposes to serve as lead agency for the environmental review
process for the proposed project to be carried out under the New York State
Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and its implementing regulations.
General Project Statistics (from the scoping document)
The development program currently includes, at full build-out, approximately
628,000 gross square feet (gsf) of commercial office space, 196,000 gsf
of hotel use, 256,000 gsf of retail, up to 7.2 million gsf of residential
use (approximately 7,300 residential units), approximately
4,000 parking spaces, more than 7 acres of publicly-accessible
open space, and the proposed 850,000 gsf arena, which would accommodate
18,000 to 20,500 seats and provide approximately 1 acre of privately-accessible
open space on the roof. The proposed project would also provide community
facilities, including a health care center and an intergenerational community
center offering child care and youth and senior activities. As part of the
proposed project, a portion of the parcel identified as Site 5
(currently occupied by PCRichards/Modells) of the Atlantic Terminal Urban
Renewal Plan would be developed with approximately 356,000 gsf of residential
use and 347,000 gsf of office use in addition to the existing approximately
47,000 gsf of retail. In order to provide flexibility in the development
plan to allow the Project Sponsors to meet potential future demand for office
space, the proposed project also contemplates a variation in the uses for
Tower 1, Tower 2 and Site 5, such that the mixed and residential uses planned
for these buildings would be devoted to commercial use.
A hard copy of the scoping documents may obtained by contacting ESDC at:
Atlantic Yards c/o Planning & Environmental Review
Empire State Development Corporation
633 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
(212) 803-3254
atlanticyards@empire.state.ny.us
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