ONE NIL IN EXTRA TIME: The City Council vs The City Council By Martin McGloin
Location:The Supreme Court of the State of New York Department Appellant Division Second Department. Monroe Place, Brooklyn, New York
On Thursday September 20th I took my first trip down to the Appellant division Supreme Court of the State of New York. The commute was mundane and the 4 train takes one just a block or so from the court house. The building may I add was historic and looked almost regal at the same time. I have been to court houses but this was the most salubrious yet. To tell the truth I'™m surprised they did not invite me in for tea and crumpets.
When entering the court, one knew that one was in a special place, where the laws of the land were been discussed and argued and appealed. I digress. Interestingly enough most of the cases before the court were medical malpractice. I now know why medical expenses are so high. The premiums pay for lengthy lawsuits and not medical care, not to mention padding the insurance companies. The Appellant Division: Second Department was presided over by Judges Crane, Florio, Lifson and Carni., the panel for the day.
I was here to observe the calendar case # 18 The Matter of Annabi vs the City Council of the City of Yonkers, of which I am one of the plaintiffs. This case was about the changing of the super majority requirement to a simple majority vote by the City Council, in regards to the Ridge Hill Project, perhaps the most controversial project ever in the history of the City, or even the County.
First up on the left side facing the bench was Kevin Plunkett of the Law firm Profitt, Thacher Wood,as appellant representing the City of Yonkers and the City Council of the City of Yonkers. Mr. Plunkett pointed out the issue was Municipal Law 239 m. He argued that county law 277.61 superceeded municipal law 239m. Mr. Plunkett stated that the County’s own regulations pointed out that only certain projects required and warranted referral. Mr Plunkett stated that not every planning issue goes to the County. He pointed out that pages 476-9 of the county's own planning code require referral in only certain cases. By allowing this decision of Justice Colabella, Mr. Plunkett pointed out that this was an extension of Municipal Law 239, which was not the intention of the Law. On two occasions when referring to the Judge Colabella decision, Mr Plunkett repeatedly fumbled the ball. He referred to a Judge Nicolli and quickly corrected himself. Mr Plunkett stated the obvious in that the City Council on it's own motion brings this revision, the ultimate public hearing is at the polling booth". Does he disagree with term limits I thought silently to myself? I guess Mr Plunkett has never been to a public hearing in Yonkers, especially the RidgeHill ones. I cordially invite him to one.
At around noon, on the right side facing the Judges, Mr John Murtagh representing Smith, Buss Jacobs introduced himself . He stated as respondent he was in a unique roll, as counsel, plaintiff and city councilman. Before allowed to present his argument, Mr. Murtagh was questioned repeatedly by Judge Lifson, who did not appear to agree with the supermajority requirement. *Actually Mr. Murtagh was cross questioned on his argument much more than his opponent. John Murtagh pointed out that Yonkers was not unique in that 63 other municipalities, towns and villages in the state of New York had a supermajority law requirement on their books. It was pointed out that the City had changed and revised it's zoning code in 2000, and could have changed the supermajority vote requirement then, but did not. The fact that the land effected, the RidgeHill site, off route 87 in Yonkers abutted Westchester County land and a county highway afforded them the opportunity to issue a negative declaration on the project. It was pointed out that this triggered the supermajority requirement. Then an election retired the sitting council president Mr. Richard Martinelli as he lost his seat. The 4-3 vote happened without a public hearing and the rest is history as to how this case proceeded. As a closing remark it was pointed out by Mr Murtagh that the goalposts were moved to rubber stamp this Forest City Ratner project and hence the public hearing requirement never met and that was one reason why the case was before this appellant court.
Quite an interesting experience for me in my first visit to this court. I would concur with Mr. Murtagh that it was 1-1 on the case with 2 not decided yet, and I wait patiently for the courts decision, despite the fact that Judge Nicholas Colabella has already ruled in our favor in April of 2006. So we are one nil in extra time. Surprisingly the City of Yonkers has continued with this appeal at the taxpayers expense, something which appears moot as the project was re-voted in July 2006 by a 5-2 supermajority of the City Council.
*(The City of Yonkers, requires a supermajority vote of 5-2 , by the City Council when the County of Westchester planning board declares a project to negatively impact the county. I would argue that this is a good thing as it is a real check and balance on City Government.)
Martin McGloin is a co-founder of Community First Development Coalition. It was founded in 2005 to provide accurate information about development projects in the City of Yonkers. For more info go to http://communityfirstdevelopmentcoalition.blogspot.com/
Published in this weeks Westchester Times Tribune
http://yonkerstribune.typepad.com/yonkers_tribune/files/WTT-2-56-Web.pdf
