Friday, August 22, 2014

Parkland alienation case: Judge rules in favor of City

From Willets Point United:

Justice Manuel Mendez, NYS Supreme Court, NY District, has issued his decision to dismiss the lawsuit brought by plaintiffs Sen. Tony Avella, City Club of New York, Queens Civic Congress and others, challenging the plan of Queens Development Group LLC to construct a 1.4 million square foot mega-mall on 40+ acres of Queens parkland.

Justice Mendez concludes that the 1961 authorization to construct Shea Stadium also allows construction of the mega-mall on parkland.

Below is the official statement of John Low-Beer, attorney for plaintiffs, concerning the decision of Justice Manuel Mendez to dismiss the case:

"Plaintiffs believe that the decision misunderstands the common law doctrine that prohibits any nonpark use of parkland without the specific and explicit approval of the State Legislature. The State Legislature, when it passed the 1961 law permitting the construction of Shea Stadium, did not intend to allow construction of a shopping mall. That law did not allow the construction of anything except a stadium and related facilities on the site. Plaintiffs will appeal, and believe that this decision will be reversed on appeal."


From Crains:

The next step in the process is for the de Blasio administration to transfer all of the city-owned properties to the control of the joint venture, which then plans to begin cleaning contaminated soil on the site before eventually constructing the mall and part of the residential component to the east of the home of the New York Mets. However, the development group said the timeline is being kept fluid since the court’s ruling was likely not the final chapter in the legal dispute.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

How low can you go???

Can anyone else smell the bribes?

We're Queens - We Can't Have Nice Things said...

It will go bankrupt in no time.

Just check out the malls in Queens - they're almost all empty.

Minimum wage earners don't have money for Target and Best Buy.

Anonymous said...

Last year, this judge overturned the firing of a teacher caught with 20 bags of heroin:

http://observer.com/2013/09/judge-totally-cool-with-williamsburg-teacher-bringing-heroin-to-court/

Anonymous said...

wrong. appeal!

Anonymous said...

Keep up the fight Tony !

Anonymous said...

The court of public opinion always wins in the long run!

Anonymous said...

Boycott the mall if it's built! That'll show 'em!

Anonymous said...

If allowed to proceed, that "mall" is going to morph into a casino, exactly as QDG originally proposed. Just wait and see. Since the park property at issue is not zoned, all it will require is a quiet amendment to the property lease, with no public review. That's what they've teed up, and that's what's coming.

Anonymous said...

when GOD is being eliminated from our society by the APPARATCHIKS(Marxist secret agents USA).

their fellow travelers will continue to subvert the citizenry.

Anonymous said...

"Boycott the mall if it's built! That'll show 'em!"

The Wilpon's and their political flunkies will petition the government to allow more foreigners into the area so they can put them in their shittily built condo/coops and have them shop at their shittily built mall.
The property will then be sold to some foreign investment firm and the Mets will be sold at top dollar and the Wilpon's will be laughing at all the people in Queens who voted into office all politicians who sold their souls for a few campaign donations.

ron s said...

The decision is completely wrong. Any average person reading the document would conclude that the use of the land for a mall is prohibited. It is as clear as day. You would have to be on the take or under extreme political pressure to rule otherwise.

Anonymous said...

What is the position of the Borough President, the City Council and Mayor? Obviously, this judge is not interpreting the law correctly so I hope their is an appeal. There are so many wonderful uses for that land which would benefit Queen and the other boroughs. If this goes through, Queens will be the victim!

Anonymous said...

Anon No. 9: Are you telling us that this court case is a sign that the apocalypse is near?

JQ said...

another asinine decision for the benefit of corporate pigs and mindless consumers.

unless tony and his partners win the appeal,the commercial vandalism of taxpayer funded parks will get worse,eventually leading to central park.if you don't think thats possible,look at bryant park,its become a food court,even central park has kiosks for shitty merchandise.

but of course queens will get crushed first.don't even count on mellie katz and the blaz,they feign concern at first and then submit like the spineless dems they are.

Anonymous said...

but of course queens will get crushed first.don't even count on mellie katz and the blaz,they feign concern at first and then submit like the spineless dems they are.

ITS THE FAULT OF ALBANY AND CITY COUNCIL AND THE QUEENS WEEKLIES THAT DO NOTHING FOR US.