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The NY State Court of Appeals, the highest in the state, dismissed a lawsuit challenging the use of eminent domain for developer Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. The NY Times calls the lawsuit the "last major obstacle" for Ratner, "whose 22-acre development has been delayed for three years by a flurry of lawsuits, the collapse of the credit and real estate markets and a glut of luxury housing, plans to begin selling tax-free bonds next month to finance the development’s cornerstone project: an 18,000-seat basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues near downtown."
The Atlantic Yards Report breaks down the 6-1 decision: The court essentially said "it's not the role of the courts to intervene in agency decisions, given the wide latitude in state law," but a dissenting judge said, "[T]he majority is much too deferential to the self-serving determination by Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) that petitioners live in a 'blighted' area, and are accordingly subject to having their homes seized and turned over to a private developer....It is clear to me from the record that the elimination of blight, in the sense of substandard and unsanitary conditions that present a danger to public safety, was never the bona fide purpose of the development at issue in this case."
Ratner issued a statement about his $4.9 billion project, "Once again the courts have made it clear that this project represents a significant public benefit for the people of Brooklyn and the entire city." And so did Daniel Goldstein, whose group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn has argued against the project and a homeowner who lives in the footprint of the project (the lawsuit is titled "Goldstein, et al. vs. New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a/ Empire State Development Corporation"): "The fight against the Atlantic Yards project is far from over,. The community has four outstanding lawsuits against the project and, meanwhile, the arena bond financing clock ticks louder and louder for Ratner. While this is a terrible day for taxpaying homeowners in New York, this is not the end of our fight to keep the government from stealing our homes and businesses."
Update: Here's a statement from Warner Johnston, of the Empire State Development Corporation: "Today the State's highest court, like every other court that has considered the issue, upheld the use of eminent domain to facilitate development of the Atlantic Yards Project. Empire State Development is as committed as ever to seeing the completion of this Project. With this major hurdle overcome, we can now move forward with development which will accomplish its goals of eliminating blight, and bringing transportation improvements, an arena, open space, affordable housing and thousands of jobs to the people of Brooklyn and the State of New York."
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Council member Letitia James sold you out. She now supports Quinn who green lighted this project and supports the mayor who had MTA rents the land to Ratner for $1 a year and subsidized this project.
http://www.workingpeoplesvoice.org/wpvv4n1/subsidies.htm
Enjoy my tax dollars, rich people. Don't mention it.
Perfect timing to destroy more small businesses and push more residents out of the city. Because if there is anything the city needs while people are losing their jobs and spending less money, it's a basketball stadium shopping mall.
Disgraceful. No politician who supported this will ever get my vote.
They already did get reelected a few weeks ago. - Bill DeBlasio, John LIu, Christine Quinn, King Bloomberg.
And not one of them got my vote.
Them you are the exception since we have apathetic and uninformed voters who doomed this city and themselves.
Then not them. sorry, I'm on 2 screens
Ratner should have Atlantic Yards taken away from him because he is a fraud. He basically sold the city a package that he is not going to deliver. If the city's help is the key to making his development happen, then maybe the city should become a co-owner of the site or something. That way Ratner can't promise beautiful Frank Gehry designed buildings and then give us crap. It's a classic bait and switch.
The city was involved in this scam. They knew this project would cost us more. They lied to push this project and scam the taxpayers. But some people never learn. Look at Yankees Stadium, none of the promises were fulfilled. Instead the small business are losing money because the stadium monopolizes the fan base with all the stores and restaurants in the stadium. The community lost its park and the promised one hasn't even begun to be built. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you.
I meant, Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
i hate developers.
Ratner = Moses Jr.
This is great news! That area is a fucking shithole. Hopefully this will revitalize the area. It's about Progress not Politics. The Brooklyn Nets will thrive in this region! Hooray!
That area is most certainly not a shithole. The neighborhoods around it have steadily gotten better over the past decade, and as the dissenting judge pointed out the designation of the area as blighted was BS. The Nets should join your Devils in Newark.
I like the "the neighborhoods around it have gotten better..." because yes, yes they have. The ones AROUND it, not the actual area-- Flatbush Atlantic is still a mess, a disaster.
Walk a block or 2 in any direction (Fort Green, Prospect Heights, Boerum Hill, downtown) and you have thriving nabes. Maybe the mess/disaster is that there are basically 2 highways intersecting here? The only blight/mess/disaster I see is the rat-infested hole that is (so far) Atlantic Yards.
If you think this area is a mess you need to get your head checked. If this area is "blighted" so is 85% of Brooklyn. The only blight in the area are the empty lots caused by Ratner's bulldozing and destruction of buildings.
Nice try, Ratner.
It could be good for the city, if the project was ever going to be on the tax rolls. But you know it won't be.
Free land, no laws - must be nice to be rich and connected.
It is an absolutely disgrace that eminent domain is being used to make the rich people richer. This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. Does Develop Don't Destroy have anymore cards up their sleeves or was this it?
I live right by here and I'm thrilled. The neighborhoods around this site are nice, and improving. The main blight on the area is the enormous gravel lot / rail yard right in the middle of Brooklyn's crotch. To bring in a professional sports team is a great idea for this area.
YES, taxpayer money is being used unethically.
YES, eminent domain maybe was used too liberally.
YES, the Nets might not win a game this year.
But NO, I don't want another ten or fifteen years of looking at dark sketchy urban decay in the middle of Brooklyn's thriving epicenter. Progress, people! Teach morals to your kids.
No one is saying they should leave a gravel lot. The question is if they should fill the gravel lot with a totally unnecessary, wasteful and expensive corporate monolith - and take out the surrounding buildings and businesses to do so.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm willing to bet you're not a native of the area. I'm also going to guess that you won't even be living there in a decade. So apologies if your opinion doesn't strike much of a chord with me. I'd be more interested in hearing the feelings of your neighbors who are long time residents.
taking over brooklyns crotch and jamming it full of glitter, neon, and athletes by using imminent domain just sounds so...well- good and bad i guess.
I live near Atlantic Yards in Prospect Heights too, and I have not lived in the neighborhood my whole life. But... I also didn't move here because of it's proximity to shopping malls or sports arenas or bars that charge $15 for a beer and have dress codes, or whatever times square neon bullshit they want to throw into this space.
My neighborhood as a kid in Columbus, Ohio used to be full of great independent businesses. But then some developer named Les Wexner (owns The Limited, Victoria's Secret, etc) decided that it needed to look like a shopping mall and now it's full of Abercrombies, chain restaurants, and... you guessed... an Arena! I moved out of there for a reason.
Mark my words, this is going to be another Pfizer. Ratner will take his tax breaks, build only the arena and a few luxury condos then in a few years, take off.
Or go bankrupt. How many times do we see some developer win the right to demolish historic structures or dig a huge pit only to see them go belly up before anything gets built? Maybe the arena will go up. Maybe.
Say what you want about Bloomberg, definitely say what you want about Ratner, but the reason NYC thrives is because there are a lot of us (New Yorkers), and there are a lot of jobs. Development keeps the city thriving. Yes rich people will get richer. Welcome to planet Earth. Some people should be happy that professional sports are coming back to Brooklyn. There's nothing great about Atlantic Yards that's worth defending anyway. It may now be a city-wide attraction.
the problem here is that eminent domain is being used for an unjustifiable reason.
the majority of people dont want this project - yet nearly all the powers that be - including the media support it - further proof of the sham democracy our system truly is.
its always been this way - the strong over the weak - it'll probably never change - fine - but the poor should at least very least not buy the shit lies about this being a just city or country that we all have a piece in. cause when the rich man wants your house - they'll just come and take it.