South Bronx Activists Take Fresh Direct to Court
New York Amsterdam News
By Stephon Johnson
Last week, the New York State Supreme Court’s First Appellate Division heard oral arguments on the appeal filed by the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) on behalf of community activist group South Bronx Unite, which challenges an allegedly inadequate environmental review performed by the New York City Industrial Development Agency for the proposed state and city subsidized relocation of online grocer Fresh Direct’s headquarters from Long Island City to the South Bronx.
Before the hearing, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) submitted an amicus brief that supports NYLPI’s belief that further environmental review was necessary in an underserved and environmentally burdened community such as the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.
The amicus brief establishes the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) as “the state’s bedrock environmental law statute” that “through both procedural and substantive requirements, seeks to ensure that state agencies thoroughly consider all possible environmental impacts of any proposed government action before final determinations are made or approvals issued.” However, the document then states that the usual procedure has been ignored by the city and Fresh Direct.
