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

Petrosino Square Citi-Bike Share Fight Goes To Court

"Taking a public park and an art-installation space —cherished by the community for decades — for a commuter bike dock is terrible policy. More importantly, it is against the law.  We are hopeful that Judge Kern will turn it back to the community."  - attorney Jim Walden 

From This: 

July 2012.  Carole Feuerman’s exhibition Survival of Serena in the artist space located in the northern part of Petrosino Square, a public park located on Lafayette Street and Cleveland Pl. between Kenmare & Spring Streets at the intersection of SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown.

Oral arguments were heard today before Justice Cynthia Kern in the community 's fight against the Department of Transportation's installation of a Citi-Bike location in Petrosino Square in Soho. The DOT installed the rack on the northern tip of the Parks Department owned property on April  27, 2013, in a park space dedicated to art installations despite the neighborhood's objection. The Parks Department also objected.   (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)  

Judge Kern began by trying to set the city straight: She didn't want to hear that Petrosino Square wasn't a park.  Corporation Council absurdly tried to argue in their response to the lawsuit that the Square belonged to the DOT. 

To This: 

A 32-dock Citi Bike docking station was surreptitiously installed in Petrosino Square in the middle of the night on April 27th blocking a popular artist exhibition space in the tiny city park and taking away a 1/3 of the park's length.  According to the Parks Deparement,  Petrosino Square, formerly known as Kenmare Square, is one of the most programmed parks in the city  for art with 35 exhibitions of temporary public art since 1985.  

The parks borough commissioner for Manhattan wrote to DOT Manhattan commissioner Margaret Forgione and the Director of Bike Share program last year saying this was not an appropriate location for a bike station.  The original site was switched and the DOT installed it in Petrosino Square.    

- Geoffrey Croft

Manhattan

What a rack-et.

The city ignored state law and its own regulations in installing Citi Bike racks at two Manhattan locations, lawyers charged in court on Tuesday, according to the New York Daily News. 

The city Department of Transportation and the Parks Department improperly ate up 20 percent of the space in tiny Petrosino Park when they installed a bike share rack there this spring and failed to get necessary approval from the state Legislature, lawyer Jim Walden told Justice Cynthia Kern in Manhattan Supreme Court. 

City lawyer Sarah Kogel-Smucker said the bike rack only took up four percent of the SoHo park, and legislative action wasn't necessary because the rack is a recreational use for park-goers. 

Walden countered the park is too small for bike riding, and noted that the entire Citi Bike program is geared toward commuters, not park recreation.

 "You have a duck, and you know it's a duck because it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, introduced itself as a duck and is wearing a t-shirt saying, 'I am a duck,' with a corporate logo emblazoned on it," Walden said. 

"It's not a cow." 

June 19, 2013. Attorney Jim Walden and community residents address the media  Petrosino Square the day lawsuit was filed. 

Another lawyer, Steven Shore, challenged the placement of a Citi Bike rack near an apartment building entrance on the north side of West 13th Street.  

He noted DOT's initial map for the placement of the rack was on the south side of the street, where it wouldn't interfere with traffic and access to the building. 

Instead, they put it on the north side, where it prevents emergency vehicles - and garbage trucks - from being able to stop directly in front of the building, Shore said. 

As a result, sanitation workers often have to heave garbage over the racks — leaving trash on the street that attracts vermin, the lawyer said.

"How would you feel if you lived in a building and when you went outside, rats were everywhere?" Shore asked the judge.

"I do, actually," the judge replied - garnering big laughs from the packed courtroom. 

Shore said the city violated so many of its own regulations with the placement of the rack "it makes your head spin." 

City lawyer Mary O'Sullivan maintained the W. 13th Street rack "does not interfere with ingress or egress with the building," and its placement was proper and important because they could not install one on the busier 14th Street. 

Kern will issue a ruling at later date.  

For years the community fought to improve Petrosino Square which was finally renovated.    (Photo:  Georgette Fleischer/Friends of Petrosino Square)  

Read More:

‘You have a duck ... it’s not a cow.’: Lawyers challenge Citi Bike racks at Manhattan park and apartment 

building and scoff at DOT’s idea that program is for park-goers, not commuters

New York Daily News - October 15, 2013 -  By Dareh Gregorian  

Anti-development is in the air at FASP penthouse fundraiser

The Villager -  October 10, 2013 - By Lincoln  Anderson

Residents Protest DOT Bike Share's "Illegal" Take Over Of Petrosino Square's Art Space

 A Walk In The Park  - May 28, 2013  

Parks Dept. vs. DOT In Bike Fight As Soho Residents Blast Bike
Share Station Installed In Artist Exhibit Space In Park
A Walk In The Park -  May 9, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft

NYU/City In Court Over Attempted Illegal Parkland Swipe

Judge Grants Expedited Discovery Against NYU and City In Attempted Park Land Grab Case


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.

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

A Manhattan State Supreme Court judge this afternoon granted an expedited discovery motion request in favor of plaintiffs suing NYU and City in an attempted park land grab case which has erupted in the West Village.

At issue is whether or not NYU can proceed in building its massive two million square foot expansion project without first getting State Alienation approval to remove 4 parks - some of which have been used for more than three decades - in order to build its enormous NYU 2031 project.   

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

Former NYC Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro presented the plaintiff's argument before the Honorable Donna Mills at 111 centre street this afternoon. 

Mr. 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. 

"You can't take that precious parkland away without prior State approval under state law,"  he said.

He said they needed this discovery based on "misrepresentations by the City and NYU."

More than a 100 people attended today's hearing - many of which wore stickers distributed by Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

The City, represented by Christopher Reo stated that because the four parks were never de-mapped from the Department of Transportation they were not parks in the legal sense no matter how long they have been used as parkland.

This is position that is not consistent with other park and open space policies stated by the Bloomberg administration.   

In September lawyers filed suit in Manhattan State Supreme Court on behalf of 11 Greenwich Village groups trying to stop NYU's city-approved expansion.     

On Friday plaintiffs filed a blistering affidavit from former NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stern which called out NYU's and the Bloomberg Administration's contention that four parcels of parkland are not actually City parks.  

The four parks involved with the proposed NYU expansion-Mercer Playground, LaGuardia Park, LaGuardia Corner Gardens,  and Mercer-Houston Dog Run range from 13 to more than 32 years of continuous public use.

Assemblymember Deborah Glick also wrote an affidavit supporting the contention that the City’s approval of the NYU expansion plan amounted to an illegal giveaway of public parkland and that any move to turn City parkland over to a private entity, like NYU, must have the approval of the State legislature under the Public Trust Doctrine.


Actor Matthew Broderick speaks with reporters after the hearing.

Actor Matthew Broderick was among more than 100 people who attended today's hearing many of which wore stickers saying, PLEASE SAVE OUR PARKS. 

"This issue is personal. I live in the village, I use the parks," Broderick, a life-long Greenwich Village resident said after the hearing. 

"It's not just my children.  I grew up on Washington Square and NYU is taking up more and more."

Matthew Broderick testified at the NYU expansion hearings at City Hall on June 29, 2012.  

"Parks they make the city livable, It's hard enough. There's only one Greenwich Village, its great if any parkland is preserved."

Broderick was accompanied by fellow Village native and parent Kenneth Lonergan, a noted playwright and screenwriter, and New York University alumni.

"The university doesn't own Greenwich Village, and the part they do own they're destroying. And it's not for the students, it's for money," Lonergan said.  

Both Broderick and Lonergan noted the dearth of available parkland in the community. 

The case contests the City Planning Commission's and the City Council's decision to approve a massive building plan by NYU, which would radically impact the area-  turning the heart of Greenwich Village into a jam-packed construction site for over 20 years, The plan would also permanently destroy two of the four parks. 

Various groups, including NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan (NYUFASP), the Historic Districts Council, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, filed suit because the approved construction plan, among many other illegalities, gave NYU rights over public parkland.

At the end of the hour hearing Alan Levine argued strenuously on behalf of NYU to no avail.

Judge Mills signed an order show cause granting the plaintiffs permission to argue for discovery before the April 29th hearing.

“We are deeply gratified by the judge’s ruling today," said Andrew Berman Executive Director Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

"It’s only one small step, but an important one towards ensuring that New Yorker’s parks, light and air, and control over the fate of their communities are preserved, and not simply sold off to the highest or most politically well-connected bidder.”   

Besides Mr. Mastro plaintiffs are also represented by Jim Walden, both partners of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Read More:

Actor Matthew Broderick joins Greenwich Village neighbors

in protesting New York University expansion plans

New York Daily News - February 26, 2013 - By Barbara Ross 

NYU gotta be kidding! Matthew Broderick rips $6B expansion

New York Post -  By Julia March February 27, 2013

Professors And Villagers Take NYU To Court, Matthew Broderick Shows Up To Watch

NYU Local - By Zoë Schlanger  February 26, 2013 

Matthew Broderick Joins NYU Expansion Opponents in Court

DNAinfo - February 26, 2013 - By Andrea Swalec

Prospect Park West Bike Lane Lawsuit Reinstated

Opponents of Prospect Park West's bike lanes Brooklyn’s will be heading back to court after an appellate panel overturned a lower court ruling.

Brooklyn 

The fight over a Prospect Park bike lane has peddled its way back into court.

An appellate panel ruled Wednesday that a lower court improperly tossed a suit brought by irate opponents of the controversial Prospect Park West bike lane trying to force the city to rip out the cyclist path, according to the New York Daily News. 

They charge that the city lied about figures on the Park Slope lane’s benefits-and improperly plotted with pro-bike groups to stymie opposition.

The opponents of the lane are a politically-connected bunch that includes former Department of Transportation commissioner Iris Weinshall-the wife of Sen. Chuck Schumer-and former deputy mayor Norman Steisel.

They say the lane clogs traffic, reduces parking and makes it hard to cross the street safely.

But last August a state Supreme Court judge dismissed the case, arguing it had not been filed in time to meet strict statute of limitation regulations.

The opponents challenged that ruling and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their favor, setting the stage for a hearing on the controversial lanes.

“We are gratified by the court’s decision and we look forward to forcing the truth from the Department of Transportation,” said Jim Walden, the lead attorney for the opposition groups.

City officials have scoffed at the suit, citing data that car crashes have fallen substantially since the lane was installed.

“We're confident that the Prospect Park West bike lane is here to stay,” said a DOT spokesman, adding the judges’ decision was based on a technicality. “In the meantime, local residents will continue to enjoy the safety that this community-requested and supported lane has provided every day for the last two and a half years,” the spokesman said.  

An appellate panel ruled yesterday that Supreme Court Judge Bert Bunyan erred in August 2011 when he dismissed a lawsuit seeking to remove the two-lane path. Bunyan tossed the suit on the technicality that it was filed late.  The case returns to Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Read More:

Foes of controversial Prospect Park West Bike path win appeal to block the lane, new 
hearing planned  - Appellate panel ruled lower court improperly tossed suit 
New York Daily News - December 19, 2012 - Reuven Blau

Panel rules Prospect Park West bike lane case was erroneously tossed

The Brooklyn Blog - December 19, 2012 - By Rich Calder  

Bike ruling KO’d
New York Post - December 20, 2012 -  By Rich Calder