On Friday a judge ruled that the National Park Service illegally redrew the boundaries of state parkland to exclude Dumbo’s Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores, putting a wrench in the city’s plans to transfer the Tobacco Warehouse to arts group St. Ann’s Warehouse and take proposals for the use of Empire Stores. The judge has temporarily blocked the structures’ development via a preliminary injunction, saying redrawing the boundaries should have been subject to public hearings. The city and National Park Service maintained that the two buildings had been included in the map of Empire Fulton Ferry State Park by mistake. The injunction is a victory for neighborhood groups that opposed the privatization of both. The Daily News quotes Jane McGroarty, president of the Brooklyn Heights Association, which sued to stop the plan along with the Fulton Ferry Landing Association and the New York Landmarks Conservancy, as saying the Tobacco Warehouse “belongs to the park, where it can be enjoyed by all.”
Judge Blocks City’s Proposal for 2 Buildings in Brooklyn [NY Times]
Tobacco Warehouse Deal up in Smoke [NY Daily News]
Judge Blocks Transfer of Warehouse [BK Paper]
Legal Battle Over Tobacco Warehouse Continues [Brownstoner]
Park Service: St. Ann’s OK for Tobacco Warehouse [Brownstoner]
DOJ Weighs in on Tobacco Warehouse Feud [Brownstoner]
Two Lawsuits Over the Tobacco Warehouse [Brownstoner]
St. Ann’s Gets the Go Ahead for Warehouse [Brownstoner]
Tobacco Warehouse Renderings Revealed [Brownstoner]