26 plaintiffs

On Tuesday the group petitioned the court and had planned a demonstration for the following day when demolition was slated to begin. The judge asked for more time in making her decision and FCRC agreed to stall demolition until her decision was made.

Now with the judge's decision FCRC will begin demolition on about nine buildings during the next 13 days. The hearing for the original court case, which is being filed against FCRC as well as the Empire State Development Corp., the Public Authorities Control Board and the MTA, is slated for May 3.

"We are confident in the merits of our challenge to the state's approval of the project and that once our claims are heard we will prevail--sending the project back to the drawing board," says Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's legal team chair Candace Carponter. "It is also clear that as long as owners and renters challenging the state's right to seize private property by eminent domain succeed in federal court, the project cannot be built. Because of the irreparable harm these demolitions will bring, we call on Gov. Spitzer, Mayor Bloomberg and other elected officials to use the ESDC's funding leverage to halt the demolitions unless the project is proven to be feasible." DDDB is a community coalition that is fighting against FCRC's Atlantic Yards Project.