New York Court of Appeals To Hear Controversial Union Sq. Park Restaurant Case

Baby Yoga  - 2012 - Union Square Park Pavilion.  For more than 130 years, the park‘s pavilions have served many vital functions - a playspace for children, a bandstand, a reviewing stand, a speakers’ rostrum, and as a focal point for countless labor rallies and social protests. Despite this history, and the serious need for additional recreational and sheltered community space, since 2004 Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Union Square Partnership — a Business Improvement District/Local Development Corporation — have attemped to sieze thousands of square feet of potential recreation and neighborhood space by turning the historic pavilion into a high-end restaurant.  The BID has been allowed to dictate public land use policy aided by an eight million dollar anonymous donation.

In doing so they have also attempted to by-pass the NY State Legislature in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine, a law that provides robust protection for parkland and dates back to the 19th century in New York, and has its roots in ancient Roman law. 

For the first time in more than twelve years The New York State Court of Appeals will consider the Public Trust Doctrine,  and will hear oral arguments on Tuesday at 2:30 and shown live on the Court's website.  

(Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge

From Free Children, Cultural, First Amendment and Community Park Uses To This.  Rendering of proposed high-end bar and restaurant in the historic pavilion by Chef Driven Market, owners of Five Napkin Burger chain.   

The area around Union Square Park has the lowest amount of playground space but the highest concentration of restaurants in the entire city.  In Community District 5 there are only two playgrounds, but there are more than 150 eating establishments, bars and markets within just a two-block radius of the park.   

Will the de Blasio administration defend a failed Bloomberg-era privatization policy.   

— Geoffrey Croft

Albany/Manhattan

On Tuesday, January 14, 2014, and for the first time since Friends of Van Cortland Park v. City of New York in 2001, the New York Court of Appeals will consider the Public Trust Doctrine, which provides that once land has been acquired for use as a municipal park, it cannot be used for any other purpose without the approval of the State Legislature.  In Union Square Park Community Coalition (USCC), et al. v. City of New York, et al., the Plaintiff community group USCC — which is responsible for the rebirth of Union Square Park after decades of neglect — opposes a Bloomberg-era plan to install a high-end, commercial restaurant in the Park's historic Pavilion at the expense of children and the greater community.    

In January 2013, the Supreme Court in Manhattan in a strongly worded opinion blocked the restaurant as a violation of the Public Trust Doctrine.  Later in the year, the Appellate Division reversed the lower court's decision with a summary, one sentence decision.  On appeal, the Court of Appeals will consider the Public Trust Doctrine that dates back to the 19th century in New York, and has its roots in ancient Roman law, and provides robust protection for parkland.  

The Court of Appeals will hear this case at a critical time. Parkland alienation, the sale, lease or use of parkland for non-park purposes without legislative authorization, is a growing concern.  Increasingly, municipal governments are taking parkland from communities, using them as cash cows or as free real estate for commercial or industrial purposes in flagrant disregard of the law.  Tuesday's Court of Appeals argument comes on the heels of two decisions in the last month - Spring Creek Park in Brooklyn and NYU -  in which NY state courts found that the City violated the Public Trust Doctrine by allowing city parkland to be used for non-park purposes without approval from the State Legislature. 

Sanford (Sandy) Weisburst from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP will be presenting oral arguments for the plaintiffs.

 “The plan for the Pavilion and the plaza threaten the historical use of the North Plaza as a public gathering place, and excludes the public from an important part of the public park," said NY State Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, whose district includes Union Square Park and is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

"The pavilion should be re-established to its original intent as public space.  The Parks Department should open the building for free public uses as well give other organizations the opportunity to submit proposals in a fair and open process that allows for community input.” 

July 14, 2013 - Tango in the Park.   The Union Square Partnership BID has spent millions of dollars trying to prevent the public from accessing the pavilion.  The proposed restaurant would be open from the spring through the fall when the public's use and need of the park is the greatest.

From Arts & Cultural Programming to This.  Rendering of the exterior of the proposed Chief Driven Market high-end restaurant in the historic pavilion.  The proposed commercial entity would prohibited a variety of community uses in and around the building.


"The Pavilion should returned to its historic role as a recreation site for children,” said former City Council member and plaintiff Carol Greitzer.  

“We hope the new administration will now work with us to restore the too-long-idle Pavilion to its traditional historic role.”    

Ms. Greitzer also pointed out that the adjacent playground had few play features for children with disabilities, and little for older kids. She said the pavilion should be utilized to provide expanded services for these and other groups. 

 “The Union Square Partnership/Bloomberg Administration plan to build a restaurant at the expense of the children and the community is shameful,” said Geoffrey Croft, a plaintiff and board member of The Union Square Community Coalition which brought the suit. 

“No BID should be allowed to dictate public land use policies, and especially under the influence of anonymous donations.”

"The factual record clearly establishes that the proposed pavilion restaurant does not serve proper park purposes," said Reed Super, Esq., founder of Super Law Group who have represented USCC since 2008. 

"We look forward to our day in court and to a decision that preserves the pavilion for community use and upholds the core principles of New York's Public Trust Doctrine."  

Background:  The area around Union Square Park has the lowest amount of playground space but the highest concentration of restaurants in the entire city.  In Community District 5 there are only two playgrounds, but there are more than 150 eating establishments, bars and markets within just a two-block radius of the park.   Since 2004 the community around the park has been fighting an irresponsible plan by the Union Square Partnership,  a Business Improvement District/Local Development Corporation, and the Bloomberg administration to install a high-end restaurant depriving children and the community of desperately needed play space. 

The neighborhood has long fought to use the covered Pavilion as it was originally intended, for children and community uses.  The Pavilion should be renovated and restored to its former uses which include a sheltered, indoor recreation center that serves a variety of year-round recreation and free public uses.  

Despite vehement community opposition the plan would take away thousands of square feet of potential recreation and community space for six months of the year in order to accommodate a seasonal restaurant.  

The BID is being allowed to dictate public land use policies aided by an eight million dollar anonymous donation. It has spent millions of dollars attempting to take away and privatize much needed public space from the community - unlike Manhattan's other pavilion in Columbus Park which was handsomely restored and given back to the neighborhood for community activities.  

Table For Two?  Eliminating the park's historic free speech and rally space. The proposed new seasonal restaurant including the outdoor seating area is expected to severely impede on the parks' historic first amendment and free space role in the Northern plaza as the city will be less inclined to issue permits for large gatherings in order to protect the commercial interests and the physical "improvements" of the restaurant. 

Allowing the Pavilion to be converted into a seasonal restaurant will dramatically alter the Park's historic first amendment and free speech uses. Union Square was designated as a National Historic Landmark in large part because of these uses which began in 1882.

Bloomberg-era free speach policy impacted the use of the pavilion.  On May Day 2012 marchers were kept away from the building (above) by galvanized steel crowd control barricades (below) manned by park workers.





















Critics also charge that allowing the Pavilion to be converted into a seasonal restaurant will dramatically alter the Park's historic first amendment and free speech uses. Union Square is a National Historic Landmark because it was the site of the first Labor Day celebration in 1882 when the pavilion in the north end first served as the platform for speakers, as it has done on countless other occasions since. 

In March 2012 the city quietly approved a new fifteen-year deal with Chef Driven Market, LLC the owner of a number of high-end restaurants to build a controversial restaurant with upscale prices in the Children's Pavilion in Union Square Park.  A previous deal collapsed in September 2011. 

In 2004, Save Union Square Park, a grass roots, community - based campaign was organized by NYC Park Advocates to advocate for the needs of the community. With the help and support of 57 community organizations, including USCC, one of the City's oldest park advocacy organizations, elected officials and a broad-based labor coalition, the campaign succeeded in defeating a controversial plan to create a year-round restaurant and greatly increased the amount of playground space, much of it recaptured from play areas lost to the previous seasonal cafe.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have vowed to continue to try to prevent the City and the BID from taking way potential play space from children and the community. 

State Senators Liz Krueger and Brad Hoylman and Assembly Member Deborah Glick and former Council Member (now Manhattan Borough President) Gale Brewer have joined the fight by filing an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief. 

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP is representing The Union Square Park Community Coalition (USCC) and several individual plaintiffs in the in the New York Court of Appeals.  The Quinn Emanuel team is led by partner Sanford (Sandy) Weisburst and includes of counsel Andrew Dunlap and associate Yelena Konanova.

Super Law Group, LLC has represented USCC in its efforts to return the Union Square Park pavilion to community use since 2008, and has twice obtained preliminary injunctions blocking the proposed restaurant.  The Super Law Group team is lead by Reed Super and includes associates Alexandra Hankovszky and Edan Rotenberg.  

Arte Institute's NY Portuguese Short Film Festival at Union Square Park Pavilion - 2012.  

Tango In The Pavilion. - 2013. The community has been fighting for the space to be used for desperately needed play space for children and other free community uses. 

Read More:

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Court of Appeals to hear challenge to swanky Union Square restaurant 

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Bill de Blasio backing Mike’s fights in court 

New York Post - January 13, 2014 - By Julia Marsh 

Judges to Consider City Plan for Union Square Park Restaurants

New York Law Journal -  January 6, 2014 - By Joel Stashenko 

Judge Stops Union Square Restaurant Plan

A Walk In The Park - January 9, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft

Pricey New Union Square Restaurant Operator Named- Lawsuit Being Prepared

A Walk In The Park - March 14, 2012  - By Geoffrey Croft

Occupy Wall Street Student Rally At Union Square Park

A Walk In The Park - November 17, 2011 

Controversial Union Sq. Restaurant Deal Collapses

A Walk In The Park - September 7, 2011

Union Square Park Pavilion Concessionaire Announced - Lawsuit Being Prepared

A Walk In The Park - May 17, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg's Union Square Park restaurant deal tasteless

New York Daily News - April 30, 2008 - By Juan Gonzalez

Judge Blocks Overhaul of Union Square Park

New York Times - April 23, 2008 - By Timothy Williams

Judge Extends Injunction Against Union Square Restaurant 

NY1 - April 28, 2008

Groups Protest Planned Restaurant In Union Square Park

NY1 - October 17, 2005

Bloomberg Unveils Redesign Plan for Union Square Park

Faces Chants of Protesters

The New York Sun - October 26, 2004 - By Dina Temple-Raston

NYU To Appeal Court's Expansion Plan Decision

On Tuesday Manhattan Supreme Justice Donna Mills ruled that the City, "alienated public parkland without approval by the New York State legislature in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine.”  Construction on the $6 billion, 20-year plan cannot begin until the Legislature authorizes removal of the park space.

Manhattan

New York University is planning to appeal a court decision invalidating a portion of its 2 million square-foot expansion plans in Greenwich Village, according to Crains New York Business. 

On Tuesday, state Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills ruled three parcels of land NYU planned to occupy during construction were actually public parks, requiring the university to seek state legislative approval before using them. The university hopes that decision will be overturned in a higher court.

“We are appealing because we disagree with the court's designation of three of the strips as 'implied parkland,” NYU spokesman John Beckman said, reiterating the contention that Ms. Mills’ decision still allows the university to go ahead with the first portion of its proposal, a 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use building.

Should the appeal succeed, the university would not need Albany to sign off on a later portion of its construction plans.

Randy Mastro, an attorney at Gibson and Dunn who represents a number of community groups who filed suit, contends the decision shows the university’s weakness.

“NYU's announcement that it intends to appeal, while unsurprising, is also an acknowledgment that, despite its initial spin, this wasn't a 'positive' outcome for NYU at all,” he said in a statement. “The Greenwich Village community won this case for compelling reasons.”

Mr. Beckman returned fire, stating: “I can understand Mr. Mastro's desire to present his clients with a victory; however, if he thinks he won, why does he keep concocting interpretations of the decision that are at odds with what the judge actually said?"

Read More:

NYU will appeal halt to its expansion

Crains New York Business - January 10, 2014 - By Joe Anuta 

Judge Strikes Down NYU Plan Over Illegal Taking Of Park Land

 - 2nd Ruling Against Bloomberg in Weeks

A Walk In The Park -  January 8, 2014 

Parks Commish Veronica White Lands Job With Bloomberg After Lobbying Efforts To Stay Failed

Park Commissioner Veronica White (center) flanked by Deputy Parks Commissioner (and former Bloomberg re-election political operative) Larry Scott Blackmon  (L) and First Deputy Commissioner for Parks Liam Kavanagh at a City Council Hearing in September 2013.  Mr. Kavanagh has been Acting Parks Commissioner since Ms. White's departure on December 31st.  (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

"We have a great operating budget,"  Veronica White embarrassingly testified at the hearing.

City-Wide

Parks Commissioner Veronica White quietly left the agency on December 31 and landed a job at Bloomberg L.P. after lobbying efforts to stay on failed NYC Park Advocates has  learned. 

Sources say Ms. White had attempted to enlist the help of several prominent people including DC 37 head Lillian Roberts to lobby the new administration but those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

No public announcement was made regarding her departure and Ms. White did not send out a customary Broadcast email announcement to all parks employees. Instead she sent an email to upper management on Dec. 31st  thanking them and stating it was her last day according to several park employees.

Ms. White began her employment the following day on Jan. 1 at Bloomberg L. P. as chief of staff to Thomas Secunda, Vice Chairman & Global Head of Financial Products & Services, and a founding partner of Bloomberg L.P. 

"She was more of a figure head,"  said a long-time parks employee of White's sixteen month tenure, and speaking on the condition of condition of anonymity.  

"Liam's been running the agency since Adrian left," the employee said.

First Deputy Commissioner for Parks Liam Kavanagh has also been the Acting Parks Commissioner since Ms. White's departure. 

"We have a great operating budget,"  Veronica White embarrassingly testified In September,  a view consistently shared by Adrain Benepe who was fond of the calling the funding  "robust." 

Ms. White was out on sick leave for several months this spring. 

When her appointment was announced she called the position, "truly the most important and great job that I could ever hope to have."  

When asked what her top priorities and goals were she stressed the need to make sure that all parks in in all boroughs were maintained. 

"As we increase the parkland obviously we have to increase the resources available public and private - especially the private - for each of these parks we are creating as well as the existing parks," she said emphasizing the reliance on private funds.  

Former long-time Parks head Henry Stern complained about her lack of parks background  at the time and compared the situation to Schools Chancellor Catherine Black. 

Veronica applied for the Parks Commissioner job once before,  shortly after Mayor Bloomberg was elected in 2001. 

Before joining the Parks Department White worked for Bloomberg as the first executive director of the mayor's anti-poverty Center for Economic Opportunity a program he created in 2006 that reportedly used $100 million annually in public and private funds.

White is perhaps best known for her controversial anti-poverty ventures, including an initiative to pay poor people to attend parent-teacher conferences and a program to take kids to the dentist.

Ms. White began at Parks' on August 30, 2012 after the position was vacated by Adrain Benepe who held the job from February 4, 2002 to August 29, 2012.

Benepe finally wore out his welcome from the Bloomberg administration and was summarily told to find employment elsewhere according to several City sources.

Benepe landed a job at The Trust for Public Land,  a partner organization in the Mayor's PLANYC Schoolyards To Playgrounds Initiative.  

It is unclear if Mr. Benepe received a waiver from the Mayoral appointed Conflict of Interest Board before joining the organization.  

Parks Employees Forced To Drive "Death Trap" Vehicle

City park workers in Queens were being forced to use a 14-year-old "death trap" pick-up truck that has a multitude of safety violations including a seat belt anchored by a brick, rusted holes in floorboards with exposed brake and fuel lines,  ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions in a dangerous vehicle that should have been taken out-of-service years ago.  Workers were also being exposed to noxious fumes and mold they say. (Photos:  Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Queens

By Geoffrey Croft

An out-of control Parks Department supervisor in Queens is forcing employees to drive a hazardous truck that is endangering workers and the general public park employees charge.

Several park workers say Park supervisor Yvonne Esposito was insisting employees use a dangerous vehicle with a number of serious safety violations. 

The Ford two-door pickup with more than 102, 600 miles has several large rusted holes in the floor board with exposed wires including a two foot long hole, and warn away seat cushions have partially been replaces with cardboard boxes and sponges. 

One of the rusted holes is large enough to pass a foot and leg completely though the bottom of the vehicle and onto the street. 

Rusted holes in floorboards with exposed brake and fuel lines on the drivers side of the Parks Department 2000 Ford two-door pick up truck. Workers are being forced to drive a city vehicle more appropriate for a scape yard. 

Workers also complain of noxious fumes and mold.

And that's not all workers are forced to use a large ten pound Belgium block paving stone to hold down the seatbelt and help prevent the seat from moving forward.  

On a recent trip cardboard placed to cover up one of the holes on the driver side floor board had disintegrated and caused water from the street to splash up into the vehicle and onto exposed brake and fuel lines.

The truck was recently transferred from Flushing Meadows - Corona Park to Cunningham Park in Queens where it was being used throughout park district 7.  

Several workers also said they were afraid to speak up for fear of reprisals by Esposito. 

"I can't beleive it, what the hell is this," said Parks worker who was recently instructed to drive the dangerious truck. 

"We were told they couldn't get another truck.  She knew it was dangerous. The seat immediately came forward every time you slowed down or stopped.

. I am very upset about it but I just wanted to do my job.  We are afraid to say something.

Local 1505 Parks worker union president Dilcy Benn finally put her foot down on Friday and demanded the vehicle be taken out of service.

"All they cared about was getting the work done they didn't care about how it was done, if anyone got hurt,"  Benn said. 

The Parks Department press office did not respond despite repeated requests for comment.   

Queens

A New York City Parks Department truck that was used as recently as last week has a seat belt anchored by a brick and rusted holes in the floorboards so large that workers inside the vehicle could see straight to the ground, according to the New York Daily News.  

The Fred Flintstone-mobile is a veritable death trap — a yabba-dabba-don’t for terrified workers.


No Magic Trick.  A parks worker puts his hand through the rusted floor board of the truck on the drivers side.


 “I got people who could be killed being forced to use this vehicle, and there’s no accountability,” said Dilcy Benn, president of Local 1505, the union that represents city Parks workers.

 The 2000 dark-green Ford pickup — adorned with the Parks Department logo — has 102,695 miles on it, and it is clearly a rough ride. The floorboards are eaten by rust on both the driver and passenger sides. The truck has exposed brake and fuel lines running underfoot and ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions.

Two workers were told to use the pickup truck last week to spread salt around Queens’ parks ahead of the snowstorm. The pair took one look at the rusty wreck and tried to beg off. But their supervisor, according to Benn, forced them to use the truck.

 “A supervisor picked this vehicle up at another borough garage, drove it to Queens and gave it to workers in this condition and was not held accountable,” said Benn.

“I don’t want my workers driving a death trap.” A Parks Department spokesman said the truck — officially known as vehicle 5719Q — was taken out of service for repairs after Benn called with concerns.

A two-foot-long hole on the pasenger side, and (below) ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions.  (click on images to enlarge)

“My workers were already out in the vehicle dropping salt, and I had to call back three times before the supervisor finally took it out of service,” said Benn.

The agency says vehicles are removed from the fleet on a case-by-case basis, depending on specific conditions. Drivers are required to inspect vehicles before using them and report any safety or mechanical issues, the spokesman said. The agency’s fleet of 579 pickup trucks have two maintenance inspections annually in addition to a state motor vehicle inspection, he added. The average age of the fleet’s pickups is eight years, city officials said.

According to Benn, union members have had problems with poorly maintained Parks vehicles before.

In May 2012, veteran Parks worker Curly Robinson, 63, was nearly mowed down when an agency van he left idling popped its gear and rolled toward him. Robinson said he was thrown against another truck and then dragged several feet before the runaway van stopped.

“I had problems with that truck slipping gears all the time. It was never fixed, and it always was put back in service,” said Robinson, who added he was forced to retire for medical reasons after the accident.

The Parks spokesman confirmed that a van with the same identification number provided by Robinson was in an accident on that date and at that location but no other details were available. Auto safety expert Byron Bloch reviewed the pictures of the rusted Ford truck and said it raised questions about Parks’ maintenance efforts.


Parks workers used a ten pound Belgium block paving stone to hold down the seatbelt  as well as to help prevent the seat from moving forward while driving.


“I would not go into that truck, it’s a definite hazard and should be taken off the road,” said Bloch. “It’s actually an embarrassment and tells me there’s terrible maintenance of the vehicle.”

The extensive corrosion of the floorboards posed the biggest risk, he said. It indicated a weakened structure that would buckle easily on impact.

“That could turn a survivable crash into a fatality,” he noted.

Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates said the poorly maintained vehicle was an accident waiting to happen.

"It’s unconscionable that the city would put their own people and the public in such danger,” he said. “This is outrageous, and the people responsible must be held accountable.”


The interior of the pick-up truck reveals a multitude of safety violations including rusted holes in floorboards with exposed brake and fuel lines,  ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions.


Read More:    

PARKS & WRECK! City crews' death trap truck has seat belts
 anchored by bricks, rusted holes in floorboards 
NYC Parks Dept. truck seems a death trap with crumbling floor, seat belts 
New York Daily News - January 9, 2014 - By Ginger Adams Otis

Melissa Mark-Viverito - Former Parks Committee Chair - Elected First Latino City Council Speaker

Newly elected City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito receiving a standing ovation from collegues and supporters after concluding her acceptance speech in a packed City Hall chambers. Ms. Viverito, a close ally of Mayor de Blasio, was unanimously elected speaker of the City Council on Wednesday after the 51-member body voted to support her shorty after  Councilman Dan Garodnick conceded.  Ms. Viverito was formerly the Parks Committee Chair of the City Council.   Ms. Viverito succeeds Christine Quinn who ran unsuccessfully for Mayor.  

(Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on to enlarge 

City-Wide

Melissa Mark-Viverito, a fiery liberal who helped form the City Council’s Progressive Caucus, was elected speaker on Wednesday, giving Mayor Bill de Blasio a partner at the controls of the legislative branch who shares his ideology and much of his agenda, according to the New York Times.

Ms. Mark-Viverito, 44, a Puerto Rican-born lawmaker from East Harlem, becomes the first Hispanic to hold what is New York City’s second-most-powerful office. The vote was unanimous, 51 to 0.  After a bitter fight, in which Mr. de Blasio played an outsized role, Ms. Mark-Viverito’s lone challenger, Daniel R. Garodnick of Manhattan, formally conceded on the floor of the Council chamber shortly after 1 p.m., acknowledging the tense battle but saying, “I will do my part to resolve any rifts this process may have caused among us.”  



Melissa Mark-Viverito giving her acceptance speech. 

Until late Tuesday night, supporters of Mr. Garodnick, including the powerful Queens Democratic Party leader, Representative Joseph Crowley, were working furiously to try to sway votes to their side. By Wednesday morning, they had concluded that they did not have the votes needed to win. But it remained unclear until half an hour after the Council meeting was supposed to start whether Mr. Garodnick’s supporters would give their votes to Ms. Mark-Viverito or stage a fight.  

Ms. Mark-Viverito and her bloc of 30 supporters arrived at City Hall en masse at 11:40 a.m. They voiced confidence they had the votes to win but said quietly that they were not sure whether the vote would be unanimous. 

Council Members and other supporters greet the new speaker moments after her acceptance speech.

Mr. Garodnick and his supporters did not arrive until 12:30 p.m. When they did, Mr. Garodnick walked up to Ms. Mark-Viverito and embraced her, to applause from their colleagues. For several minutes, council members from both sides hugged one another.  

The result of the race represents a victory for Mr. de Blasio, who lobbied council members to vote for Ms. Mark-Viverito, for the Working Families Party, and for several labor unions, particularly 1199 S.E.I.U., the health care workers’ union, which put its weight behind Ms. Mark-Viverito as soon as Mr. de Blasio was elected.

Melissa Mark-Viverito's mother Elizabeth being interviewed after the vote.

After the vote the new Speaker was joined by twenty-seven Council Members and Public Advocate Letitia James in her first press conference as council leader. 

The de blasio administration inherited the expired contracts of nearly 300,000 municipal workers.

"We are going to continue negotiations," she replied when asked about retroactive pay for municipal employees.

Mark-Viverito greats well-wishers on the way out of City Hall.

Read More:

Mark-Viverito Is Elected City Council Speaker

New York Times - January 8, 2014 - By Kate Taylor

Judge Strikes Down NYU Plan Over Illegal Taking Of Park Land - 2nd Ruling Against Bloomberg in Weeks

“NYU’s massive expansion project now cannot go forward, absent State Legislative approval, and that is never going to happen. End of story. “This is a huge victory for the Greenwich Village community, preserving this historic neighborhood and protecting its cherished, precious parkland.”  -   Attorney Randy Mastro 


NYU 2031 Massive Two Million Square Foot $ 6 Billion Expansion Project.  The plaintiff's lawsuit contends that the Bloomberg administration gave NYU rights over public parkland, in violation of state law, which requires, under the Public Trust Doctrine, that parkland cannot be given away without the approval of the State Legislature. The judge agreed.

Manhattan Supreme Justice Donna Mills ruled that the City, "alienated public parkland without approval by the New York State legislature in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine.”  Construction on the $6 billion, 20-year plan can not begin until the Legislature authorizes removal of the park space.

The City Council rubber stamped the project in July 2012.  In September 2012,  eleven groups filed suit against City for illegally approving NYU Sexton expansion plan for Greenwich Village.

The City and NYU had attempted to argue that because the four parks in question were never officially, "mapped" they were not legal parkland and as a result they do not require State Alienation approval.  

Former NYC Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro argued that the parkland had been used for decades and the absence of official mapping does not afford the parks any less legal rights for protection under state law. 

This is the second time in two weeks a judge has ruled that the Bloomberg administration broke the law by illegally alienating parkland.  On December 20th a Brooklyn judge ruled that the Parks Department and NYS DEC by issuing a permit allowed 20 acres in Spring Creek Park near Jamaica Bay to be used by the Department of Sanitation for a solid waste facility.

- Geoffrey Croft 

Manhattan

A Manhattan judge all but halted New York University’s controversial expansion plan Tuesday, ruling that the city broke the law by giving away public parkland without state approval, accordong to the New York Post.

The case, brought by Greenwich Village activists in 2012 drew support from local celebrities including Matthew Broderick, Susan Sarandon and Padma Lakshmi.

“NYU’s massive expansion project now cannot go forward, absent State Legislative approval, and that is never going to happen. End of story,” crowed the neighborhood advocates’ attorney, Randy Mastro.

“This is a huge victory for the Greenwich Village community, preserving this historic neighborhood and protecting its cherished, precious parkland.”

Manhattan Supreme Justice Donna Mills said construction on the $6 billion, 20-year plan that alters the green space cannot begin until Albany lawmakers OK the removal of the park space.

About 20 Greenwich Village residents including NYU faculty sued the city and the university in September 2012 to stop the plan, claiming that the university did not obtain required approvals for the construction on two “superblocks” between W. 3rd, Houston and Mercer streets and LaGuardia Place.

Mercer Playground, one of two playgrounds NYU had hoped to tear down and replace with skyscrapers in its $ 6 billion dollar expansion plan  The plan also included removing a community garden (photo below) and a dog run. (Photo:  Terri Cude) 

Residents like Matthew Broderick, who lives on Charles Street with his “Sex & the City” actress wife Sarah Jessica Parker and their kids said the plan will change the character of the Village.

“I’m very interested in this whole change that’s potentially going to happen to the Village,” Broderick told The Post outside court last February.

“I grew up on Washington Square. NYU has just taken more and more of what I think of as a unique and important part of the Village where a huge amount of creativity has come from,” Broderick said.

Sarandon donated two hours of free ping pong at her club SPiN to raise legal funds for the case.

The LaGuardia Corner Garden has been at it's current location at the corner of Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place since 1981. Neighbors of LaGuardia Place Park paid for landscaping and raised funds for a new toddler park themselves. Under NYU's plan, residents would have also lost the Mercer-Houston Dog Run. (Photo: Elisabeth Robert/The Villager)

The City Council greenlighted the project in the summer of 2012.

But Justice Mills ruled in a 78-page decision that the city “alienated public parkland without approval by the New York State legislature in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine.”

City lawyer Chris Reo said, “We just received and are reviewing the decision.”

A spokesman for NYU downplayed the loss, saying that the ruling still allows the university to move forward on an initial project — building a new academic space on a site that currently houses athletic facilities.

“Once we have a chance to thoroughly review the decision with our planning team and determine the precise impact of the ruling on our ability to implement other elements of the plan, we will work with the City, as lead respondent, to determine our next legal steps,” said spokesman John Beckman.

Sticker distributed by Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation at the court hearings. 

Read More:

Judge says NYC broke the law in NYU expansion plan

New York Post - January 7, 2014 - By Julia Marsh  

NYU/City In Court Over Attempted Illegal Parkland Swipe

A Walk In The Park -  February 26, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft

NYU, City, State Sued Over NYU's Massive 2031 Expansion Plan  

A Walk In The Park -  September 26, 2012  

NYU's Mega-Expansion Plan Presses Forward With Park/Open Space Destruction

A Walk In The Park - January 28, 2012 

NYU Expansion Plan Presses Forward With Park Destruction

A Walk In The Park - September 17, 2011 

Residents Fight NYU Over Parkland Destruction

A Walk In The Park -  November 1, 2010 

NYU Expansion Plans Include Destruction of Beloved Parks

A Walk In The Park - May 18, 2010

IBO: New Soccer Stadium Deal Bails Out Failed Parking Lots, Boots Money Owed to City for Decades

Parking garages on 153rd St. and River Ave. near Yankee Stadium could be converted into space for a new Major League Soccer stadium.   The Parks Department owned garage on E. 153rd Street & River Avenue is the proposed site of a $ 350 million, 28,000 seat soccer stadium that is located 80 feet away from residents.   (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) 

The Yankees demanded the city create a 9,500-space garage system as part of their new stadium project, a deal that the Economic Development Corporation knew was not going to be financially viable.

Bronx

The deal now taking shape to score a new soccer stadium in the Bronx would bail out the bondholders of the failed Bronx Parking Development Company. But it would shut out the city from receiving any of the rent or other payments it is owed for the parking sites until 2056, according to the Independent Budget Office. 

The Bronx Parking Development Company runs the system of 9,300 parking spaces in a number of lots and garages built at the behest of the Yankees as part of the deal for the new Yankee Stadium. To pave the way for the lots and garages scattered near the stadium, the city leased about 20 acres of land—including 3 acres of parkland—to the parking company, provided a $39 million direct subsidy (the state kicked in an additional $70 million), and issued $238 million in tax-exempt bonds.

The parking spots have been underutilized because of good mass transit options for getting to the ballpark and overpriced compared with nearby parking alternatives. As a result, the Bronx parking company has effectively defaulted on its bonds and failed to make any of the $3.2 million in annual rent as well as payments in lieu of taxes it owes the city since leasing the land in 2008. In need of new revenue, the company issued a request for proposals last spring to sublease and redevelop two of the sites near Yankee Stadium. Now a deal for a new soccer stadium has emerged, with a portion of the proposed 10-acre stadium site incorporating a third site leased to Bronx parking.

The New York City Football Club, a partnership of the Yankees and the Manchester City Football Club (a British Premiere League team), would pay the Bronx Parking Development Company $25 million for its part of the proposed stadium site. Under the terms of the so-called forbearance agreement between bondholders and the Bronx parking company, three new series of bonds would be issued to replace the originals as part of the restructuring of the company’s debt. No provisions are made for money owed to the city.

The lease the city signed with the Bronx parking company anticipated that revenue could fall short of needs and made debts to the city secondary to those of bondholders. The terms of the new bonds presume the city will get nothing for more than 40 years. All revenue received by Bronx parking, from the proposed soccer site as well as the parking company’s other sites, would go to bondholders. Two of the three series of new bonds would not reach maturity until 2056, meaning the city would not begin receiving lease or other payments from Bronx parking until then—foregoing about $150 million in lease revenue alone.

Even as the city would be giving up this revenue, published reports indicate taxpayers are being asked for more to support the construction of the proposed $350 million, 28,000-seat soccer stadium: tax breaks, additional public land, and more tax-exempt financing issued by the city’s Industrial Development Agency.

Whether or not the soccer stadium gets built as currently proposed, it may be decades before the city’s initial subsidy of the parking system delivers any of the expected returns to New Yorkers.

Read More:

New Soccer Stadium Deal Bails Out Failed Parking Lots, Boots

 Money Owed to City for Decades

IBO Web Blog - January 6, 2014 - By Doug Turetsky 

Be Our Guest: The Yankees' deal for a soccer stadium would use 

taxpayer money and pave over parkland   

A proposal to convert underutilized and subsidized parking spaces at Yankee Stadium into a soccer stadium is a costly mistake

New York Daily News - December 29, 2013 - By Bettina Damiani and Veronica Vanterpool

NY Yankees Looking to Seize More Bronx Parkland To Build Major League Soccer Stadium
A Walk In The Park - December 11, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft