The Atlantic Yards lawsuit was dismissed yesterday. Check out Atlantic Yards Report and No Land Grab for the gory details. Here’s an excerpt from AYR.

In an emphatic yet potentially questionable decision, U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. GaraufisGoldstein v. Pataki,
the federal lawsuit challenging eminent domain that Atlantic Yards
opponents have considered their best hope for stopping the project.

In his decision,
Garaufis ruled that even if public benefits—including new tax revenues,
housing, jobs, and the elimination of blight—are less than promised,
they’re sufficient to overcome allegations that the project is a
sweetheart deal benefiting developer Forest City Ratner.

“Because
Plaintiffs concede that the Project will create large quantities of
housing and office space, as well as a sports arena, in an area that is
mostly blighted, Plaintiffs’ allegations, if proven, would not permit a
reasonable juror to conclude that the ‘sole purpose’ of the Project is
to confer a private benefit,” Garaufis wrote. “Neither would those
allegations permit a reasonable juror to conclude that the purposes
offered in support of the Project are ‘mere pretexts’ for an actual
purpose to confer a private benefit on FCRC.”

Despite the
setback, the plaintiffs, 13 owners and renters whose properties lie in
the southern segment of the 22-acre footprint, outside the longstanding
Atlantic Terminal Renewal Area (ATURA) that encompasses the Vanderbilt Yard, vowed to appeal.

yesterday dismissed