Trump loses latest court tiff over Jones Beach

Developer Donald Trump has lost the latest round of his battle to force the state to pay as much as $500 million in damages for delays in the building of his planned restaurant-catering hall at Jones Beach State Park - and his attorney is vowing to appeal.

In its decision released Thursday, a midlevel appeals court affirmed a lower court finding that Trump failed to prove that New York State and its Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation violated its contract by rejecting his bid to build a basement at his Trump on the Ocean.

The judges in the Appellate Division's Albany-based Third Department wrote that a contract breach alleged by Trump "fails as a matter of law."

The state said no to the basement being built under the catering hall because the basement didn't comply with the fire and building code barring such basements in a coastal floodplain.

Trump contends that during the lengthy back-and-forth over the plans with the state, no one from the government mentioned that the basement would be unacceptable - and that the state signed a contract without complaining about the basement.

The nearly 27,000-square-foot basement would have included kitchens, offices, a refrigerated garbage room and a geothermal heat system. The entire building calls for a 75,000-square-foot building 28 feet high.

A September ruling by the Appellate Division's Brooklyn-based Second Department in a second suit said Trump ought to be granted an exception, called a variance.

There's a third suit over whether New York can make Trump pay rent before construction starts. The state is appealing Trump's victory in the first round of the case.

Ronald J. Rosenberg of Garden City, an attorney fighting the project, was pleased with Thursday's decision.

"The state had absolutely no liability," Rosenberg said last night. "The whole premise of the lawsuit was frivolous."

Trump attorney Steven R. Schlesinger of Garden City said, "Having just read this decision, it appears the court found that despite signing the Trump on the Ocean lease, the state had no obligation to be reasonable in actually issuing the building permit."

He added: "This is all heading to the Court of Appeals for final resolution," referring to the state's highest court, which would have to consent to taking the case. Trump has said that he wouldn't build anything until the case was resolved.