WPU's August 17th, 2011 court appearance

From the Queens Examiner:

Michael Gerrard, an attorney with the law firm Arnold & Porter, which is representing Willets Point United, argued that the city deliberately misled the court when it claimed it could not go forward without the ramps, and instead began eminent domain proceedings and began moving forward on phase one without the approval.

“It should not be without consequence when the city makes a promise to the court and it violates that promise,” Gerrard told Madden.

Gerrard also argued that the city could complete phase one, and then not be able to finish the rest of the project because it never obtains approval for the ramps, a scenario which was never taken into consideration in the initial environmental impact statement.

“If phase one of the project goes forward now, and the ramps are not approved, who knows what the impacts will be,” he said. “The technical memorandum said what happens at the end of phase one, but it does not say what will happen after that.

“It doesn't say what will become of the rest of the project in the years that follow the completion of phase one,” Gerrard added. “That was nowhere analyzed.”