State Supreme Court Convenes in Case Between Humboldt Residents and the NYSDOT

The Court battle begins. Community members leverage the courts to stop the NYSDOT’s tunnel: it’s bad for the environment, bad for Buffalo!

Buffalo, NY — Co-plaintiff’s Terry Robinson and Marcia Ladiana, Humboldt Parkway Residents and members of the East Side Parkways Coalition, return to State Supreme Court before the the Honorable Daniel J. Furlong, 50 Delaware Avenue, Part 28, 8th floor, on Thursday, March 7th, at 10 am.

Mr. Robinson and Ms. Ladiana re-appear Thursday after The Honorable Daniel Furlong adjourned proceedings for two weeks to allow the Attorney General time to respond to the plaintiff’s response to a motion to dismiss, that was originally made by the Attorney General’s office. The lawsuit, an Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, seeks a Writ of Mandamus, an Order of the Court to compel NYSDOT to adhere to N.Y. State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) because the action is a Type 1 under SEQR and the NYSDOT evades non-discretionary procedural steps. The plaintiffs are asking the court to compel the NYSDOT to obey the law.

Marcia Ladiana, a co-plaintiff in the suit, states, “This is the first step in confronting this horrible project in the courts. We will make our case for why this project evades State Law and we are hopeful that the Judge will hear the case. But make no mistake, this tunnel will not be built! We will persist and resist until we are confident that the NYSDOT meets its legal obligations and the community is protected from the devastating effects of noise and pollution in our neighborhoods.” Ms. Ladiana, a retired environmental engineer with 33 years of service at the NYS Department of Conservation has concluded, using the NYSDOT’s own data, that the air quality at the portal ends of the tunnel will be far more concentrated and harmful to the neighborhood. Ms. Ladiana affirmed, “This project isn’t just bad for the environment, it’s bad for Buffalo. This tunnel will fortify an expressway that devastated neighborhoods and will persist as a barrier to future prosperity on the East Side.”

Mr. Robinson continued, “This isn’t just an East Side issue, it’s a Buffalo issue. The community has sent the resounding message that they do not want a tunnel. Nearly everyone would prefer a restored Humboldt Parkway. Reconnecting MLK Park and Delaware Park would reconnect neighborhoods and reconnect Buffalo.”

Terry Robinson and Marcia Ladiana are decades-long residents of the Humboldt Parkway, vocal critics of the NYSDOT tunnel project, and members of the East Side Parkways Coalition.