By T. D. Thornton
Legal challenges filed last autumn by the Village of Floral Park to try and halt construction of a $1.3-billion hockey arena, hotel, and retail project adjacent to Belmont Park have been tossed out by a New York State Supreme Court judge.
The two state agencies that green-lighted the project–the Empire State Urban Development Corporation and the New York State Franchise Oversight Board–were defendants in the lawsuit.
The initial lawsuit cited an allegedly flawed bidding process and “secret master plan” for the arena's development that was allegedly floated by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) nine months before the state issued an official request for proposal (RFP) for the project, although NYRA itself was not a defendant in the case.
Newsday reported that in court documents filed May 12, Justice Roy S. Mahon ruled the plaintiffs lacked “standing to sue for alleged improprieties in the RFP process” and that Floral Park had “not shown that it has suffered an injury in fact distinct from that of the general public.”
According to WSHU Public Radio, Floral Park Mayor Dominick Longobardi said in a statement he's “disappointed” by the decision. It is unclear whether Floral Park and other civic plaintiffs plan to appeal.
Construction began last summer, but the project was put on hold in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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