Pier pressure: The lawsuit against the Pier55 project resumed last Tuesday in Appellate Division court, on E. 25th St., and the decision came down just two days later, as the court upheld the State Supreme Court’s prior ruling against the challenge. Barry Diller, who with his wife, Diane von Furstenberg, has pledged to donate $113 million toward the $130 million project, was seated in the front row, “with a smile on his face the whole time,” we’re told. Also there were Diana Taylor, the chairperson of the board of directors of the Hudson River Park Trust, and Madelyn Wils, the Trust’s president and C.E.O., and Noreen Doyle, the state-city authority’s executive V.P. Each side gave their argument for 10 minutes, and the panel of five judges asked pointed questions. Tom Fox, one of the petitioners in the suit, filed by the City Club of New York, blasted David Paget, the Trust’s environmental attorney for his “pejorative” attacks on the petitioners and their suit. On a more positive note, Fox noted that his onetime adversary Marcy Benstock, who battled Westway back in the 1980s, was also there. Benstock fought the Hudson River Park while Fox was the leader of the Hudson River Park Conservancy, the Trust’s predecessor agency. This time, though, they are both on the same side, trying to stop the glitzy “arts island” project. “I went up and said hi. She was civil and pleasant,” Fox said of the fiery environmental activist. Fox was miffed at recent media hits on the petitioners, including by Charles Bagli in The New York Times, who once again raised the accusation that the lawsuit is being funded by developer Douglas Durst, the former chairperson of the Friends of Hudson River Park. Fox previously told us that this was not true and that the suit is being paid for by the City Club. Piling on the pressure, the Daily News also recently blasted Fox and his fellow plaintiff, boating enthusiast Rob Buchanan, as “cranks.” The longtime waterfront park activist has assured they will seek to take the fight on to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, if needed. Meanwhile, Trust attorney Paget said the lawsuit just doesn’t hold water. To the petitioners’ argument that they weren’t given a chance to bid on the project — as required by the park’s founding legislation — Paget said, “It’s silly, it’s risible. Frankly, that’s ludicrous to suggest that the City Club or Mr. Fox or Mr. Buchanan had the financial resources to bid” on the pier plan. “It’s a laughable proposition,” he scoffed. But Fox said not to count out the pesky petitioners. After all, local activists did defeat the Westway megaproject, he recalled. “We beat three presidents, two governors and two mayors, the real estate industry and the construction industry,” Fox said. “The Times was for it, and there wasn’t anybody that was against it except for us. This is America.”
Cude love at C.B. 2? It’s hard to believe that two years has flown by, but Tobi Bergman’s tenure as chairperson of Community Board 2 is almost over. The Village board has a self-imposed cap of two successive one-year terms for its chairpersons, and the board will elect a new leader this fall. So far, we’re only hearing two names — Terri Cude, the board’s first vice chairperson, and possibly Bo Riccobono, who finished second to Bergman in a three-way race two years ago. Cude did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but word is that she has the votes to win. Ah, yes…we remember back when she was still just a green community activist – as in “new” — and eager to get on the board…plus her occasional Monty Python quips as she sat listening to the meetings. Perhaps she’ll dub her candidacy “And now for something completely different!”… But, truly, she’s been doing a lot of exemplary activism — including recently as a Democratic district leader, as well. So, more correctly, as board chairperson, she would be doing more of the same…as in, what she’s already been doing so well!
