Forest City Ratner Compelled to Pay Legal Fees of Opposition Groups in Lawsuit

Had a judge known Forest City Ratner changed its Atlantic Yards construction timetable from 10 years to 30 years in 2009, Barclays Center may never have been built, according to a ruling in a legal case about the controversial development made public yesterday. In her decision, she said that the Empire State Development Corporation owes community groups legal fees incurred during a lawsuit to compel an environmental impact study for the second phase of the project. Because of an agreement with the ESDC, Forest City Ratner will have to pay the costs, according to a press release about the matter put out by one of the plaintiffs, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. “We’re gratified by today’s decision, but the fact remains that, as Justice Friedman suggests, had the ESDC and Forest City Ratner not knowingly misrepresented the facts to the court, the entire Atlantic Yards project, including the heavily subsidized Barclays Center, would never have gotten off the drawing board,” said Candace Carponter, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s legal director, in the release.

Judge Slams ESDC in Decision Awarding Fees to Atlantic Yards Challengers [AYR]