Strykers Bay Neighborhood Council v. City of NY

• Decision Date: 13 September 1988
• Docket Number: No. 85 Civ. 5362 (WCC).,85 Civ. 5362 (WCC).
• Citation: 695 F. Supp. 1531
• Parties: STRYKERS BAY NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

695 F. Supp. 1531

STRYKERS BAY NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Defendants.

No. 85 Civ. 5362 (WCC).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

September 13, 1988.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Elizabeth L. Koob, Joan Magoolahan, New York City, for plaintiffs.

Peter L. Zimroth, Corp. Counsel, New York City, for Municipal defendants; Angelo Aiosa, Susan M. Shapiro, Asst. Corp. Counsel, of counsel.

Schulte Roth & Zabel, New York City, for defendant James West Ninety Associates; John S. Martin, Jr., Janet Neustaetter, of counsel.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, U.S. Atty., S.D. N.Y., New York City, for Federal defendants; Susan E. Harkins, Stephen F. Markstein, of counsel.

Arthur N. Eisenberg, Mitchell S. Bernard, New York Civil Liberties Union, New York City, amicus curiae.

OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM C. CONNER, District Judge:

This action is the sequel to a nine-year legal battle over the development of a large neighborhood on the upper west side of Manhattan known as the West-Side Urban Renewal Area. See Trinity Episcopal School Corp. v. Romney, 387 F.Supp. 1044 (S.D.N.Y.1974) aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 523 F.2d 88 (2d Cir.1975), on remand, Trinity Episcopal School v. Harris, 445 F.Supp. 204 (S.D.N.Y.1978) ("Trinity I"), rev'd sub nom. Karlen v. Harris, 590 F.2d 39 (2d Cir.1978), rev'd sub nom. Strycker's Bay Neighborhood Council, Inc. v. Karlen, 444 U.S. 223, 100 S.Ct. 497, 62 L.Ed.2d 433 (1980) ("Trinity II"); Kunreuther v. City of New York, No. 633/82, slip op. (Sup.Ct. New York County 10/13/82). The West-Side Urban Renewal Area stretches from 87th Street to 97th Street, and from Central Park West to Amsterdam Avenue. The litigation focused on a parcel of land known as site 30, which is located between 90th Street and 91st Street on the west side of Columbus Avenue.

In what proved to be a Pyrrhic victory, the City of New York and the Stryker's Bay Neighborhood Council, allies in the first action but adversaries here, won the right to build low-income housing on the disputed property. During the course of the litigation, inflation shrunk the value of the money appropriated for the development of site 30 to the point that the contemplated housing could not be built with the available funds. Now, unable to achieve the goal for which they so valiantly fought, the former allies have turned on each other like two exhausted armies in a battle for the meager spoils of the conquered land.

In the present case plaintiffs seek a declaration that defendants have violated their civil rights by designating a significant portion of the property for development as luxury housing. Plaintiffs also seek a permanent injunction barring defendants from using that portion of the property for any purpose other than low-income housing, and further barring defendants from leasing any subsidized units on that portion of the property to any persons other than members of the plaintiff class. Finally, plaintiffs seek an award of damages.

Plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction. The Court denied the motion on the grounds that plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate either irreparable injury or probability of success on the merits. The Court concluded that the harm alleged was too remote and speculative to warrant the drastic relief sought, and that in view of the unavailability of other funding for the construction of low-income housing, there was no reason to believe that low-income housing would be constructed on the site even if the injunction were granted.

Plaintiffs now move for an order certifying this proceeding as a class action, and defendants move for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56, Fed.R.Civ.P. For the reasons set forth below, the motion for class certification is denied, and the motion for summary judgment is granted on the basis of the undisputed facts set forth below.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs commenced this action on July 12, 1985, approximately one week after defendants James West Ninety Associates and the City of New York reached an agreement on the development of site 30. James West agreed to purchase a portion of site 30, known as site 30A, and develop it according to a plan that both the City Planning Commission and the Board of Estimate had previously approved. The City agreed to purchase the remainder of the site, known as site 30B, from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") for construction of an 87-unit, low-income housing project for the elderly.

The plan for the development of site 30A provided for the construction of 201 apartments. Forty apartments were to be reserved for low- and moderate-income families, and 160 apartments were to be market rate rental units registered under the City's rent stabilization laws.¹ The rents from the market rate units were intended to subsidize the low- and moderate-income units.

Pursuant to their agreement, James West paid the City $2.688 million for the purchase of site 30A. To finance the construction of the planned housing, the New York City Housing Development Corporation issued a $30 million tax exempt bond. The City also agreed to grant the building a partial tax abatement for as long as it contained subsidized housing or remained subject to the rent stabilization laws.

A. The History of Site 30

The City acquired site 30 in January 1963. At that time, five tenement buildings containing a total of 40 apartments and housing 54 families were located on the site. See Reply Declaration of Susan Shapiro, Exh. B at 7; Affidavit of Bruce T. Sykes, ¶ 19; Appendix to Municipal Defendant's Memorandum in Opposition at A-111. All of these families were ordered to vacate the buildings, and, as title-vested tenants displaced by the City's acquisition of land for urban renewal, were granted relocation benefits in the form of moving expenses and assistance in obtaining permanent replacement housing.² In addition, those title-vested tenants who temporarily relocated outside the West-Side Urban Renewal Area were assured that they would be given first priority to rent apartments in any new, low-income housing built in the area. According to the City's records, at least 52 of the 54 title-vested tenant families from site 30 have received the relocation benefits to which they were entitled. See Sykes Aff., ¶ 19.

Although the City began to remove the title-vested tenants from the buildings located on site 30 in 1963, it did not demolish the buildings for several years. During this time, the City used the buildings to provide temporary housing for families whom the City had removed from other urban renewal sites.

In the spring of 1970 squatters began to occupy the buildings. See Trinity I, 387 F.Supp. at 1056. The City initially attempted to evict the squatters, but later agreed to allow them to remain temporarily in the buildings until it was ready to demolish them. Pursuant to this decision, the City entered into conditional leases with the squatters. All of these leases made clear that the accommodation to the squatters was only temporary, and that they would be required to move on thirty days notice once the City was ready to demolish the buildings. See Sykes Aff., Exh. E at 13. In addition, some of these leases contained an express provision stating that the leases did not endow the squatters with the right to relocation benefits. See Sykes Aff., Exh. F at 3. In October 1971, the City ordered the squatters to vacate and shortly thereafter demolished the buildings.

B. The Trinity Litigation

When the City acquired site 30 it designated the site for the construction of 160 units of moderate-income housing. The following year, the City named the Lefrak Organization, Inc., which is the parent corporation of defendant James West, as the developer.

In 1971, the City Planning Commission and the Board of Estimate changed the designation of site 30 from middle-income housing to low-income housing. Lefrak agreed to continue as the developer, redesigned its plans, and, upon receiving approval from the Housing and Development Administration, began to prepare the site for construction.

At that point, however, a group of community residents represented by the Trinity Episcopal School and an organization called CONTINUE brought an action in this Court seeking to enjoin the City from implementing its plan to develop site 30 as a low-income housing project. The corporate plaintiff in the instant case, Stryker's Bay Neighborhood Council, Inc., participated in the Trinity litigation as an intervenor-defendant. The City and HUD vigorously litigated in support of the plan to develop low-income housing on site 30. In 1980, after two appeals to the Court of Appeals and a further appeal to the Supreme Court, the City finally won the right to build low-income housing on site 30.

C. Termination of HUD's Involvement

While the Trinity litigation was pending, the City drafted an amended plan for the development of the West-Side Urban Renewal Area. Because of the uncertainty as to the legality of a low-income project on site 30, the amended plan provided for the development of the site as unspecified housing. See Richard LeFrak Affidavit Opposing Preliminary Injunction, Exh. D at 3; Ronald J. Marino Affidavit Opposing Preliminary Injunction, ¶ 7.

In November 1979, the amended plan received the approval of all the necessary City agencies in accordance with the City's uniform land use review procedures, and the City submitted the plan to HUD for its evaluation and approval. Kunreuther v. City of New York, No. 633/82 at 4 (Sup.Ct. New York County 10/13/82); Marino Aff., ¶ 8. HUD staff members evaluated the amended plan and recommended approval. See Affidavit of Edmund R. Davis Supporting Motion to Dismiss, 2/11/86, ¶ 3 & Exh. B. By that time, however, the City had expended the full federal allocation for the West-Side Urban Renewal Area. See Davis Aff. Supporting Motion to Dismiss, 12/20/85, ¶ 13. Consequently, the...