Court rejects Atlantic Yards MTA sale suit

The State Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit that alleges the Metropolitan Transportation Authority acted inappropriately in its sale of the Vanderbilt rail yard to Bruce Ratner, developer of the controversial Atlantic Yards site. A collection of community advocacy groups, including Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, alleged in the suit that the MTA inappropriately reopened a deal this year with Ratner that was made in 2005 rather than reappraise the arrangement. Daniel Goldstein, a spokesperson for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, said that this constituted favoritism on the part of the MTA, referring to the developer and the MTA’s arrangement as a “sweetheart deal.” The court saw things differently, ruling in favor of the MTA. “If every change were to be viewed as a new plan so as to trigger anew each mandated review process, no development plan could ever reach final approval,” the ruling says. “The MTA had a rational basis for continuing to use the 2005 appraisal rather than ordering a new one in 2009.”