willets point eminent domain mayor bloomberg sterling equities fred wilpon saul katz related companies steven ross queens real estate develoment flushing meadows corona park
Sterling Equities & Related Companies Lose A Court Battle
Plans to Build Shopping Mall on Flushing Meadows Corona Park Land Reversed on Appeal, but Legal Wrangling will Continue
This report is based on an Associated Press report dated July 2, 2015 and a Queens Tribune story dated August 28, 2014.
In August of 2014, New York State Supreme Court Judge Manuel Mendez decided in favor of Related Companies / Sterling Equities by throwing out a lawsuit filed by the City Club of New York and NYS Senator Tony Avella.
The plaintiffs alleged that billionaire Stephen Ross's Related Companies, the real estate developers of Hunters Point South and the Hudson Yards, and the Sterling Equities which was co-founded by the NY Mets owners, mega-millionaires Saul B. Katz and Fred Wilpon, had not gone through the NYS legislature for the approval of the transfer of the parkland as required by law.
The lawsuit, filed in February 2014, alleged that the transfer of 47 acres of Flushing Meadows Corona Park land that currently represents the western part of the Mets parking lot, was done without following the procedure for a proper public review [see photo above right]. The City had proposed transferring the 47 acres to Related Companies / Sterling Equities who had planned to build a 1.4 million square foot shopping mall next to Citifield.
The NY City Council and the billionaire former Mayor Bloomberg approved the project in October 2013, but the proposal never went to Albany for a vote. According to the Queens Tribune report one of the plaintiffs said that the Judge Manuel Mendez's ruling goes against the Public Trust Doctrine, ignores longstanding case law history, and bestows too much power that was formerly the purview of the Board of Estimate in one person: the NYC Mayor.
On Thursday, July 2nd, 2015, the four-judge Appellate Court overturned Judge Mendez's decision and ruled that the Willets West Mall Project was illegal because the land is a part of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, in spite of its current paved over status as a parking lot [see 2009 photo above].
And because it is a part of the public parkland of the people, it may not be turned over to the real estate developers without approval of the NY State Legislature. The judges rejected the ruling in favor of the mall development made by Judge Manuel Mendez, wherein Mendez sided with the wealthy real estate developers who argued that the 54 year old, 1961 law authorizing the construction of Shea Stadium, also included a mall.
The photo above shows the Citifield parking lot in 2009, as it was being paved over following the demolition of Shea Stadium which was authorized in 1961. The new Citifield stadium built to replace Shea, is smaller.
According to the Associated Press report, a spokesman for the real estate developers said that they would appeal the decision.
Click here for the full report on Sterling Equities Saul Katz Fred Wilpon / Related Companies Stephen Ross lose court battle over Flushing Meadows Corona Park development in Flushing Queens.
Queens Realtors, Queens Insurance & Banking - Links
Click here to go to the home page of TBD realtors.
$element(bwcore,insert_search,N)$
Click for NYC Weather & Horoscope.
Site Search Tips. 1) For best results, when typing in more than one word, use quotation marks - eg "Midtown Neighborhood". 2) Also try either singular or plural words when searching for a specific item such as "gym" or "gyms".
$element(bwcore,insert_search,N)$
Click this link to the Gotham Buzz front page.
NYC Related Links
Click for NYC Neighborhoods NYC.
Click for NYC Real Estate & Business NYC.
$element(adman,groupads,Sectional2 Ad)$
NYC Holidays & Hotels in NYC
NYC Holidays & Hotels Related Info
Click this link for promotions, discounts and coupons in New York City.
Click these links for promotions by advertisers in Manhattan.
Click this link to go to the NYC Neighborhoods section.
Click the log in link below to create an ID and post an opinion.
Or send this story to a friend by filling in the appropriate box below.