Develop-
don't destroy
BROOKLYN Press
Release Main Page
For Immediate
Release: June 28, 2006
Develop Don't
Destroy Brooklyn and Co-Plaintiffs File Motion For Relief in the Court
of Appeals
Plaintiffs Seek Fairness in Process in Which Attorney David
Paget is Shared by Forest City Ratner and ESDC on "Atlantic Yards"Proposal
Review
NEW YORK, NY— Today Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and 15 co-plaintiffs
filed a motion for leave to appeal a case it had won in State Supreme Court
but was overturned last month by the Appellate Division. The case the plaintiffs
won in the trial court centered around environmental attorney David Paget,
of Sive, Paget & Riesel, who had an apparent conflict of interest as he
had represented developer Forest City Ratner for its "Atlantic Yards"
proposal and then switched to represent the state public agency-the Empire
State Development Corporation (ESDC)charged with representing the public
interest in the environmental review of the same development proposal.
Forest City Ratner's "Atlantic Yards"is the largest single-source
development proposed in the history of New York City.
In their motion for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals (the highest
court in New York State), Develop Don't Destroy and its co-plaintiffs ("the
petitioners") contend that:
The specific conflict of interest issue presented here appears to be a case
of first impression in New York State courts, and implicates fundamental
issues of governmental integrity and accountability in the context of an
enormously controversial development project that will have a significant
impact on hundreds of thousands of citizens and significantly change several
Brooklyn neighborhoods…
To hold that the ethical rules applicable to a public entity acting for
the benefit of the public are the same as the rules applicable to purely
private conduct, particularly in the context of the State government's oversight
and review of a publicly subsidized, large-scale community redevelopment
project, undermines public trust in the integrity of government…
Because this issue is vitally important to the public and presents a novel
issue of law, petitioners respectfully submit that leave to appeal to the
Court of Appeals should be granted.
"Our community intends to fight for justice and transparency in the
environmental review process at every turn. To the extent that the political
and economic elite think that they can run roughshod over the residents
of Brooklyn by sharing advisers and ignoring the rules, we will seek the
guidance of the highest court available,"Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
legal committee chair Candace Carponter said. "In this case, the trial
court saw through the sham of the government and the developer sharing the
same attorney on the same development proposalForest City Ratner's ‘Atlantic
Yards.' Although the Appellate Division thought this conflict was acceptable,
we hope the Court of Appeals will decide to hear the case and independently
evaluate the situation. As such, we are making application to the Court
of Appeals to review this case and to, we hope, rule in favor of transparency,
fairness and the obligation of all parties to play by the rules; it's the
least we can ask for when so much is at stake."
The motion can be found here:
www.dddb.net/documents/legal/demolitigation/papers/appeals/DDDB/060628AppealMotion.pdf
The Appellate Division's ruling can be found here:
www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2006/2006_04190.htm
All case files can be found here:
www.dddb.net/php/reading/legal/democase/index.php
DEVELOP DON’T DESTROY BROOKLYN leads a broad-based
community coalition
fighting for development that will unite our communities instead of dividing
and destroying them
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