After pursuing a non-adversarial stance for the entire history of the Atlantic Yards saga, Brooklyn Speaks, the coalition of neighborhood and civic groups, is set to announce a lawsuit challenging the ESDC’s approval of the Atlantic Yards Modified General Project Plan. From yesterday’s press release:

The suit contends that the plan was approved without sufficient study of the impacts of its extended construction schedule and completion risks. It also alleges that the ESDC has illegally delegated to FCRC much of its governmental power to determine the future content and configuration of the Project. Groups and elected officials filing suit include the Atlantic Avenue LDC, the Brooklyn Heights Association, the Boerum Hill Association, the Fifth Avenue Committee, the Park Slope Civic Council, the Pratt Area Community Council, the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblyman Jim Brennan and City Councilmember Letitia James. Attorney Albert K. Butzel of the Urban Environmental Law Center is representing the plaintiffs.

Atlantic Yards Reports notes that the lawyer for the coalition is Al Butzel of the Urban Environmental Law Center, the same guy who led the legal fight to block the Westway landfill project back in the 1970s.
New Lawsuit Challenging AY Approvalby BrooklynSpeaks [AY Report]
Photo by Tracy Collins from 2008 Rally