The Court of Appeals rendered a decision on June 6, 2017 which enjoined the proposed development of parkland in Willets Point, Queens as a shopping mall and movie theater on Citi Field's parking lot. Matter of Avella v. City of New York, 2017 N.Y. LEXIS 1403.

The city has a long ignominious history of attempts to develop the area.1 After the last attempt, the city requested development proposals. Queens Development Group proposed a multi-phase development. The first phase called for a retail mall to be built entirely on parkland.

The Public Trust Doctrine

The Court of Appeals began its analysis of the legal issue by reviewing the well-established law. It noted that the public trust doctrine is ancient and firmly established in our precedent. When a municipality takes land for the public use as a park, it holds it in trust for that purpose. What this means is that a municipality cannot convey parkland without the sanction of the legislature.

The court reviewed the longstanding history of the public trust doctrine set forth in its Friends of Van Cortlandt Park v. City of New York, 95 N.Y.2d 623, 630 (2001): “Our courts have time and again reaffirmed the principle that parkland is impressed with a public trust, requiring legislative approval before it can be alienated or used for an extended period for non-park purposes.”