Bob Chira

"This is a test case," said Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund lawyer Robert Chira.

Opponents were outraged by the state's argument.
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Chira argued against the move, charging it was a tactic to overwhelm the community opponents.

"It's a David and Goliath situation to begin with," said Chira.

Our lawyer Bob Chira has filed the appeal for our lawsuit.

"It was a David and Goliath situation to begin with," said Robert Chira, the attorney acting for the community-based Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, which brought the suit."We don't need two Goliaths."

The Defense Fund, which brought the case, only sued the state's Empire State Development Corporation and its subsidiaries.

The state decided to include housing in the park, and commissioned a faulty Environmental Impact Statement that did not take into account the looming downtown Atlantic Yards project, Chira said.

"The suit does not seek to annul any decision by New York City," Chira said.
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Chira, wearing a green ribbon saying "A Real Park," said that this would be a test case that could change the face of how parks are run in the future.

"This is a test case and a very important test case," Chira said."It is going to shape the future."

Chira took the opportunity to tell the judge that the park, as proposed, violates "the public trust doctrine" by including private housing to subsidize the estimated $15.2 million annual operations and maintenance costs.He also contented that the project would include private parking and a private marina.

The plan includes 1,240 condominiums and 225 hotel rooms near either end of the 1.3-mile park.

The Defense Fund wants to reinstate the 2002 Illustrative Master Plan, referred to in the MOU, which did not include housing.

Chira asked the judge to order the Empire State Development Corporation to hand over documents, including the budget relating to maintenance and operations, which were used to justify the housing in, or abutting, the park.

He said the documents would reveal if the state officials made any deals with developers.

"If there are documents, we are entitled to them," Chira said.
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But Chira said after the meeting that there are several cases that support his request.

"This is the test case," the lawyer, Robert Chira, said.It will decide, he said, "whether other parks up and down the waterfront can have private housing in them."