The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed a series of decisions by the district court that dismantled a suit that included RICO claims against the city of Buffalo and its mayor, Byron Brown, for allegedly improperly stymieing an affordable housing project because the developer wouldn't hire a politically connected contractor.

On appeal, the NRP Group challenged the final judgment by U.S. District Judge William Skretny of the Western District of New York in favor of Brown, his deputy mayor, the city, the Buffalo Urban Renewal League and others.

The panel struck a sympathetic note for the circumstances that led to the suit, stating that it was troubled by the implications of the actions it claimed city officials took against it.