Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - In a decision on Wednesday in State Supreme Court, members of the East Side Parkways Coalition were granted a temporary restraining order that blocks the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) from working further on the $1 billion Kensington Expressway project in Buffalo's East Side neighborhood.
State Supreme Court Judge Emilio Colaiacovo found Wednesday the coalition satisfied the criteria of a likelihood of success and irreparable injury to the residents in-and-around Humboldt Parkway, as well as a weighing of the equities.
The temporary restraining order will halt any work until a hearing later this month on Oct. 25.
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Terry Robinson, a resident of 40-plus years in Humboldt Parkway and a member of the East Side Parkways Coalition, feels it was a just decision from Judge Colaiacovo on Wednesday.
"I think that he made a very studied decision, and it follows the facts and the law," said Robinson in an interview with WBEN. "I think it's fair, and I think it gives an indication of better things to come."
Robinson and the coalition have felt NYSDOT didn't act in accordance with the procedures they should have as a Type 1 action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR).
"They were acting illegally, the decisions and the determinations they made were based on already a biased viewpoint. They weren't looking objectively, they weren't looking at the facts, and they weren't looking at a way that were in the concern and express the interest of the people that live in-and-around the project area," Robinson explained. "And then the whole community, the City of Buffalo. It's not an East Side issue, it's a Buffalo issue. It's a Western New York issue."
Upon the announcement from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul back in February of the federal government's approval of the project, there was an uncertainty of exactly when ground was set to break with the $1 billion project. Robinson is relieved that this decision on Wednesday is a start toward the project never getting off the ground.
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"The problem is these guys have been doing everything they can to make the construction imminent prior to a fair hearing in court. What they were doing is they've advertised a request for qualifications, they've done it as a design build project. Something with no guardrails, something to proceed as quickly as possible to get the work started. Yeah, this is huge," Robinson said. "This is a huge victory for the people of Western New York, and for fair process and for the green amendment. It's the right thing to do. The judge did the right thing today."
Robinson says he will definitely be in attendance for the court hearing on Oct. 25, and hopes to be allowed a chance to present some simple thoughts on what to do with the Kensington Expressway.
"They need to restore Humboldt Parkway. They need to restore the best designed transportation grid in the country," he said. "They need to invest in the project area, the disadvantaged communities on either side of it. They just need to do the right thing. Spend that money in a way that is to the good of everybody in Western New York. None of us need extra taxes to pay for some $1 billion boondoggle that's going to some out-of-state mega construction company to start with. I'll be there to say, just do the right thing, do it the right way. And we will all benefit from it."
According to Attorney Alan Bozer, who represents the East Side Parkways Coalition, filling in the current expressway and restoring Humboldt Parkway would cost approximately $300-to-$400 million.
WBEN reached out to the office of State Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes for further comment on Wednesday's decision, but received no response.