Petitioners' Affirmation
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
NEW YORK COUNTY
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----------------------X
In the Matter of the Application of :
ROOSEVELT ISLAND RESIDENTS ASSN (RIRA), :
STEVE MARCUS, as President, MARGIE SMITH,
as
Vice President, SHERIE HELSTIEN, as
Secretary, : Index No. 04/118270
Petitioners, : Justice William A. Wetzel
For a Judgment
Pursuant to CPLR Article 78 : EMERGENCY
AFFIRMATION IN
SUPPORT OF
-against-
: ORDER TO SHOW
CAUSE FOR A
ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION :
PRELIMINARY
(RIOC), MEPT OCTAGON LLC, GOTHAM INJUNCTION AND
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LLC,
: TEMPORARY
RESTRAINING
Respondents. : ORDER
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Dan
Quart, Esq., an attorney duly admitted to practice law before the
courts of the
State of New York,
affirms the
following pursuant to CPLR § 2106 under penalty of perjury:
1.
I represent Petitioners ROOSEVELT
ISLAND
RESIDENTS ASSN
(RIRA), STEVE MARCUS,
as President,
MARGIE SMITH, as Vice President, SHERIE HELSTIEN, as Secretary,
(collectively,
“Petitioners”), in the instant matter. I
am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of the
litigation
herein.
2. I
submit this affirmation in support of Petitioners’ application
for an order
enjoining Respondents ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION
(RIOC), MEPT
OCTAGON LLC, GOTHAM CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LLC, (COLLECTIVELY,
“Respondents”)
from performing any construction on the Octagon Apartment Complex
project (“the
Project”) on Roosevelt Island, New York.
PETITIONERS
WILL BE IRREPARABLY HARMED ABSENT PRELIMINARY
RELIEF
3. Members
of RIRA live in close proximity to and enjoy recreational
activities in Octagon
Park.
4. On
October
14th, 2004,
RIOC authorized the lease of five acres of open space parkland in
Octagon
Park upon which would
be built two
13-story housing towers.
Pursuant to
state statutory and common law requirements, parkland cannot be
alienated for
non-park purposes as such without state legislative
approval.
5.
Respondent has begun
construction on
the project, destroying trees and pouring foundation for
construction of the
first of the two apartment towers.
Specifically, the affidavit of Margaret Smith, annexed to
First
Affirmation of Dan Quart as Exhibit 15, attests to the current
state of
construction and how trees on the property are being cut
down. See Quart
Aff. 1, Exh.
15, ¶ 4. Similarly, the affidavit of
Steven Marcus,
President of RIRA, attests to the pace and progress of
construction on the
property. See Quart Aff. 1, Exh.
16, ¶ 9. Further,
Petitioners’
Memorandum of Law outlines in comprehensive fashion how
Petitioners’ have
satisfied its legal burden for the issuance of an
injunction.
6.
Additionally,
Petitioner’s application
annexes various photographs depicting construction on the
premises as of the
weekend of February
27th,
2005. These
photographs are
annexed under cover of the affidavits annexed as exhibits 15 and
16. These photographs demonstrate
active
construction taking place in and around the area noted as the
Octagon
Development Project.
Clearly,
Respondents are engaged in a constant level of construction on
the property,
which, if permitted to continue, threatens the ability of this
court to rule on
Petitioners’ substantive claims.
Therefore, Petitioners’ request that this Court issue an
immediate Order
enjoining Respondents from any further construction on the
property to permit
this Court to rule on the matter before “events on the ground”
supersede this
Court’s ability to enforce and uphold New York State statutory
and common law
requirements.
7. Damage
to Octagon
Park
has already been done, and there is a great likelihood that
further damage and
irreparable harm will occur without the court’s intervention.
8. Petitioners
have no adequate remedy at law.
WHER
EFORE,
for all the foregoing reasons, Petitioners’ respectfully request
that this
Court issue an Order granting a Temporary Restraining Order and
Preliminary Injunction
enjoining Respondents’ ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION
(RIOC), MEPT
OCTAGON LLC, GOTHAM CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LLC from engaging in any
construction
work, or activity whatsoever, in, on and around the premises
referred to as the
Octagon Development Project, and for such other and further
relief as this
Court deems just and proper.
________________________
Dan
Quart, Esq.
Attorney
for Petitioners
1619
Third Avenue, Suite 7J
New
York, NY 10128
(212)
831-4170
