Metadish, Fresh from NYC

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Federal judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of United States District Court in Brooklyn, dismissed what may well have been the most significant lawsuit opposing Atlantic Yards Development Project yesterday.

Garaufis said in his ruling, “Plaintiffs have not set forth facts supporting a plausible claim of an unconstitutional taking,” he wrote. “Nowhere in the amended complaint or their briefs do plaintiffs sufficiently allege any purpose to confer a private benefit.” He also said any claim that the condemnations would not benefit the public were “baseless.”

It may seem Garaufis’ decision could also be said to be baseless since his decision to dismiss the case came without allowing the plaintiffs to even get as far as discovery.

Freddy’s Bar & Backroom, which has become sort of the unofficial social epicenter of people rallied against the Forestation of Brooklyn, and is also part of the lawsuit told Metadish exclusively, “there’s a lot of disappointment.”

“We’re not giving up,” said Donald O’Finn, manager at Freddy’s. “It’s not the end. We’re not going to give up. We’re going to appeal. We have a 5 year lease and we’re not giving up. A lot of the legal avenues that go into building a project like this have been bypassed.”

“Calling the neighborhood blighted because of a few empty apartments, when it’s Ratner that owns the building and refuses to lease to anyone.”

“The fact is they don’t even want to hear it. We’re all very disappointed by that,” but O’Finn added resolutely, “we’re not going easy.”

NoLandGrab.org printed this straight forward POV on it’s site today. “It is our view that if Judge Garaufis’s ruling is allowed to stand, then there are effectively no protections for private property in the State of NY.

Any laws on the books will serve merely as a roadmap for developers and local governments to advance backroom deals, and will no longer act as guidelines meant to preserve constitutional rights.”

And as you can see by the Google Earth visualization of the Atlantic Yards the plans fit right into the existing neighborhood without at all looking like a gigantic sore thumb.

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