The Battle over the taking of property for, among other things, an NBA arena and 16 office and residential towers in Brooklyn has moved to New York’s highest Court. The New York Court of Appeals decided to hear the challenge by property owners and tenants to the taking of their property. The parties are submitting briefs and the case – Goldstein et al. v. N.Y. State Urban Development Corporation – will be argued in Albany on October 14.
The properties are needed to construct the “Atlantic Yards Project” consisting of the Barclays Center Arena and 16 skyscrapers. The condemnees challenging the taking claim the use of eminent domain for Atlantic Yards violates the New York State Constitution.