By Dustin Brown
Construction continued this week on two generators in Long Island City as the New York Power Authority and Silvercup Studios intensified efforts to broker a deal before a judge’s Monday deadline.
Ruling in a suit filed by Silvercup in January, Queens State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Golia declared April 4 that NYPA violated environmental law in its rush to place two power generators on a Vernon Boulevard site. He plans to sign an order Monday halting construction if Silvercup and NYPA do not reach an agreement by then, said Mitchell Kaufman, his law secretary.
A separate ruling in Brooklyn State Supreme Court Friday contradicted Golia’s decision, declaring the Power Authority acted within the law in its efforts to build the two generators in Queens as well as eight others across the city.
“We were pleased by the subsequent decision in Brooklyn State Supreme Court and we feel that this validates that we did do things correctly in our approach to undertaking these small-turbine generators,” said NYPA spokesman Michael Saltzman.
The Brooklyn suit was filed by the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest on behalf of a coalition of community groups who accused NYPA of evading environmental law and neglecting to consider public comment.
NYPA insists the 10 generators are needed to stave off a power crisis in the city this summer.
In spite of NYPA’s victory in Brooklyn, the order Golia may sign Monday would “prohibit the Power Authority from continuing to build the plant to the extent necessary to prevent any kind of waste or danger,” Kaufman said.
NYPA officials said they will appeal the Queens decision if they do not reach a settlement with Silvercup.
“If the case is not resolved, if we don’t reach an agreement that will result in the continuance of the construction of these plants, and the judge executes the order, we will appeal it,” said NYPA spokesman Luis Rodriguez.
According to Golia’s decision, NYPA would have “to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and conduct its environmental review process in an open and deliberate manner” before moving forward with construction. In its haste to put the generators in place by June 1, Golia found the Power Authority failed to take a “hard look” at the possible environmental impact of the two generators.
Although representatives of Silvercup and NYPA have tried to hammer out a deal since February, Silvercup lawyer Michael Zarin said negotiations had ceased in the week before Golia issued his ruling.
Silvercup President Stuart Suna said Golia’s decision has prompted NYPA to consider negotiations more seriously.
“We’ve always been open to talk to NYPA,” Suna said. “We’ve been asking to sit down with the principals face-to-face. Now that the decision came it’s starting to happen.”
Rodriguez said he did not know when senior Power Authority officials began meeting with Silvercup.
Keyspan Chief Executive Officer Robert Catell has proposed purchasing the two generators and moving them several blocks north to Keyspan’s Ravenswood site within two or three years. Moving the generators would likely figure strongly in any potential settlement, Silvercup lawyer Michael Zarin has indicated.
Although the Queens decision represents a clear victory for local public officials, many of whom were listed as plaintiffs in the suit, Borough President Claire Shulman expressed a willingness to still compromise with NYPA.
“As we speak we are negotiating with the Power Authority and the city of New York,” Shulman said as she and other officials stood before the turbines on Vernon Boulevard at a press conference April 4. “In the next couple of days we may have a solution, but the judge’s decision really vindicates us.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
