Jets stadium project sued over impact study

BY ERROL A. COCKFIELD JR | STAFF WRITER

August 27, 2004

Opponents of a plan to redevelop Manhattan's far West Side filed suit against the project yesterday, alleging the city authored an incomplete environmental study that would stifle public input.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs - who include Cablevision Systems Corp.'s Madison Square Garden, a neighborhood group and several residents - said they will seek an injunction in state Supreme Court in Manhattan to halt the city's land review process.

The suit claims the environmental study describes a thorough list of the project's potential adverse impacts, but then offers little in the way of concrete measures to address those problems.

"There are so many gaps in so many key areas involving traffic, noise, air, water, sewage and hazardous waste," said Randy Mastro, one of the lead attorneys. "There has been a deferral of required analysis."

Mastro, a former Giuliani administration deputy mayor, and Michael Gerrard, another attorney on the case, have worked as lobbyists for MSG against the redevelopment, state records show. MSG has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into ad campaigns against a new Jets stadium that would compete against the Garden for conventions and other events.

Litigation stemming from the study, a draft issued for public comment, had been expected since its release in June, but yesterday's suit officially marked the beginning of what could be the most contentious episode in a development fight full of political clashes.

City officials and backers of the plan immediately rejected any suggestion that the study - a voluminous document of about 6,000 pages - did not adequately address the development's impacts.

"The City's Draft Environmental Impact Statement is the most comprehensive document of its kind ever prepared for any development project in New York City's history," said Jennifer Falk, a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Falk called the suit's central charge "ludicrous" because the environmental study launches a months-long process of meetings with community groups, elected officials and residents. A series of public hearings on the project are expected to begin next month.

The proposed redevelopment of the far West Side is one of the most ambitious planning undertakings in the city's history.

Along with a controversial proposal to construct a $1.4- billion Jets stadium, it calls for a $2-billion extension of the No. 7 subway line, a $1.4- billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and a rezoning of an area known as the Hudson Yards to create 28 million square feet of commercial space and another 12.5 million square feet of residential development.

Residents involved in the suit said a lack of information does not allow them to properly comment on the proposal.

"I'm concerned about these environmental impacts and I'd like to know what the city intends to do," said Dan Gutman, a West Side resident who works as an environmental consultant. "Unfortunately, that information is not in the environmental impact statement."

Meanwhile Mastro's firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, has donated more than $50,000 to the NYC2012, the nonprofit that backs the stadium, which could double as a home for the 2012 Olympics.