Columbia’s plan OK’d: High Court reversed App. Div.

Court of Appeals reversed First Department’s strongly worded opinion. In 2001, Columbia University contacted the City’s Economic Development Corporation in an effort to redevelop West Harlem as part of a campus expansion. Not long after, EDC issued a West Harlem Master Plan that stated that West Harlem could be redeveloped through rezoning. EDC, after it issued the master plan, hired a private firm to examine the neighborhood conditions of West Harlem. The study concluded that … <Read More>


Willets Point Group Denied Equal Protection Claim

City chose not to heavily invest in Willets Point infrastructure. In November 2008, the City Council approved a $3 billion development plan for Willets Point, an industrial neighborhood in northern Queens. When implemented, the plan would transform the low-end commercial area into a mixed-use community with residential, retail, hotel, and entertainment uses. Under the plan, the City could utilize eminent domain to acquire property needed for development. The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association, an … <Read More>


Split vote favors Brooklyn Broadway Triangle plan

Community groups opposed to rezoning proposal expressed concerns about HPD’s opaque planning process. On December 7, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified and approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to redevelop the seventeen-block Broadway Triangle Urban Renewal Area in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The City created the Broadway Triangle URA in 1989, and HPD’s proposal included redrawing the boundaries of the urban renewal area and rezoning nine blocks in order to … <Read More>


Owner can sue for damages

City failed to make advance payment to owner after taking property, but continued to charge interest on tax liens. The City acquired title to property through eminent domain for the New Creek Bluebelt project in Staten Island. Because the City did not issue an advance payment to the owner at the time of the taking, it began to pay out six percent interest on the advance payment. The City, meanwhile, continued to charge the owner … <Read More>


New Midtown rail station approved for ARC Project

Nation’s largest mass transit project will double NJ Transit’s commuter rail capacity into Manhattan. The City Council approved the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s applications related to the $8.7 billion Access to Region’s Core (ARC) passenger rail project. Jointly sponsored by the Port Authority and New Jersey Transit, the project’s goal is to double the capacity of NJ Transit’s commuter rail service into Manhattan by building a rail tunnel under the Hudson … <Read More>


Court orders advance condemnation payment

Over one year after City took title of Staten Island property,owner had not received advance payment. As part of the 1989 stormwater management plan developed for Staten Island, the City began acquiring property consisting of stream corridors and wetlands collectively known as the Bluebelt. One property, owned by Ramfis Realty, was part of the eminent domain acquisition approved by the City Council in 2005. Although title had passed to the City in 2008, Ramfis had … <Read More>