Another setback for Brooklyn arena foes

A federal judge delivered a setback Wednesday to Brooklyn residents trying to stop the state from leveling their homes to make way for a new arena for the NBA's Nets.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis dismissed one of two major legal challenges to the project, which also includes office space and as many as 6,400 new apartments in towers designed by architect Frank Gehry.

Thirteen holdout tenants, homeowners and business owners in the mega-development's vast footprint sued last year to save their properties. They said the planned eminent domain seizures were a sham, orchestrated for the sole purpose of enriching the Nets principal owner, Bruce Ratner.

Garaufis called that allegation baseless.

"Because plaintiffs concede that the project will create large quantities of housing and office space, as well as a sports arena, in an area that is mostly blighted," he wrote, no reasonable juror could conclude "that the 'sole purpose' of the project is to confer a private benefit."

Ratner released a statement calling the ruling "an important victory" for Brooklyn.

An attorney for the residents said he will appeal.

"We are confident that the appellate court will allow this case to proceed to trial, at which the citizens of New York will finally learn the real reason plaintiffs' properties were selected to be forcibly taken, and why Ratner was chosen to reap an unprecedented financial windfall," Matthew Brinckerhoff said in a written statement.

The development still must overcome other legal hurdles, including a lawsuit in state court challenging the validity of the state's review of the project's environmental impact.

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