St. Savior’s wins a court battle

A group trying to save St. Savior’s Church in Maspeth from demolition won the first round in what could potentially be a long battle when a Jamaica court extended a temporary restraining order for the site, saying that the developer could no longer continue to do work at that location.
The group, which includes the Juniper Park Civic Association, West Maspeth Land Development Corp., three parishioners, and nearby property owners filed suit against the Maspeth Development Corp. which wants to demolish St. Savior’s and build more than 70 residential units.
The judge also did not dismiss a restrictive covenant that the group presented showing that the land could only be used for religious purposes.
“We were very pleased with the court’s decision, but still cautiously optimistic,” said Marc Bresky, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case. “We realize that there are a lot more legal avenues that the defendant can pursue.”
After the judge announced the decision, attorneys for the defendant asked the judge to have the plaintiffs come up with a $1.5 million bond in order to compensate the developers since they were not allowed to continue work at the site.
“I think that’s outrageous, and there is no reason whatsoever to post an undertaking at this time for any amount of money,” Bresky said. “Any damage the defendant has or will sustain is related directly to its own conduct by virtue of what we believe to be the illegal activities.”
However, the defendants said that the judge did not read the papers on the issue, and she would make her decision shortly, so they were not disappointed said Harry Giannoulis, a spokesman for Maspeth Development.
The plaintiffs also contend that the developers do not have a valid demolition permit and have not obtained the necessary zoning change requiring months to go through the proper administrative channels - which is needed to construct the residential units they intend to build.
“This is the ultimate David and Goliath,” said Juniper Park Civic Association President Bob Holden. “We pushed him back a little bit.”