Friends of Hudson Park considering a Pier 40 lawsuit

a Pier 40 lawsuit

The Friends of Hudson River Park are contemplating a lawsuit against the Hudson River Park Trust challenging the Trust’s decision in June to defer designating a developer for Pier 40, according to John Doswell, co-chairperson of the Friends.

The Friends, a civic group supporting development of the five-mile-long park between Chambers and 59th Sts., will decide whether to join a lawsuit at its September meeting. “It’s mostly about the process of the decision,” Doswell said.

Two weeks ago, Doswell told The Villager that at previous meetings of the Friends there did not seem to be much support among members for a lawsuit and that it was unlikely they would file one. However, he said this was a “mistake.”

The Trust in June announced that it would not abide by a deadline extension that the Trust, elected officials and community members agreed to last year to pick a developer for the 15-acre pier at the end of W. Houston St. Instead, the Trust decided to develop a plan for interim recreation use of the pier and wait until the economic climate improves to choose a developer.

The June 9 decision was announced by Robert Balachandran, Trust president, at a nonpublic meeting of the Trust’s board of directors. Although the board did not vote, all but two directors, Julie Nadel and former state Senator Franz Leichter, agreed to the deferral and the interim plan.

At the time, Arthur Schwartz, an attorney and former waterfront committee chairperson of Community Board 2, said he would try to find plaintiffs for the lawsuit he planned to file challenging the Trust’s action.