Construction of the Nets’ new Brooklyn arena might be on pace to be completed next year, but a state judge’s ruling today puts much of the rest of the embattled $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in further jeopardy.
Supreme Court Judge Marcy Friedman ruled the Empire State Development Corp. illegally approved changes to the Prospect Heights project in 2009 by relying on an out-of-date, pie-in-the-sky 10-year timeline for the plan, which also includes 16 residential and office towers. Instead, the effects of a 25-year-old buildout on surrounding neighborhoods should have been considered, she added.
The EDSC’s “continuing use of the 10-year build date was not merely inaccurate; it lacked a rational basis given the major change in deadlines reflected” in various project development agreements, the judge wrote.
Friedman isn’t requiring developer Bruce Ratner to halt arena construction or the rest of his project’s long-delayed first phase.
But she did order the ESDC to conduct a new environmental review for the project’s larger second phase, which includes 11 of the residential towers — a move that could set it back many more years.
Besides the arena, the rest of Atlantic Yards is on hold due to insuccifient financing, so critics say the judge’s decision could be a nail in the coffin for Ratner completing the project.
Following the decision, project opposition groups Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and Brooklyn Speaks, which filed the suit, called on Gov. Cuomo to investigate the project and ESDC’s role approving it.
But an ESDC spokesperson said agency believes “it complied with all laws” and is reviewing its legal options.
“While we disagree with the decision, “ said Joe DePlasco, a spokesperson for the developer, “ it does not stop us from continuing work on the project and will not impact our current construction schedule.
“As of this week, we’ve erected 50 percent of the steel for the arena, and we will start installing the façade along the Atlantic Avenue side next week. The arena is scheduled to open, as planned, in September, 2012 and we are working aggressively to start the residential portion of the project.”