Battery Alliance v. Battery Park City Authority

The New York State Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to Battery Park City Authority’s (BPCA) approval of the second phase of the Battery Park City Coastal Resiliency Project. The challenge was filed by two nonprofit organizations and two residents of Battery Park City. Completing the project would require temporarily closing parts of Battery City Park to install a floodwall. The court found that BPCA did not violate the State Environmental Quality Review Act because its environmental review was not “arbitrary, capricious, or affected by an error of law.” Rather, it reflected years of engagement with residents, elected officials, community members, and consultants to account for a range of environmental impacts. Additionally, the court found that petitioners failed to provide any empirical data or expert testimony to support their contention that the division of the coastal resiliency strategy into two phases represented impermissible segmentation. The court also determined that the project did not violate the public trust doctrine because the doctrine does not apply to State parkland, and because the project did not constitute an “alienation of land for nonpark purposes.” Finally, the court dismissed the petitioners’ State constitutional claim because the New York Constitution’s Green Amendment does not provide an implied private right of action, and, even if it did, the petitioners failed to establish a violation of the amendment.