Botanic Garden development opponents to begin settlement talks
A Brooklyn judge called for settlement talks in a lawsuit challenging the planned construction of Crown Heights towers that activists say would cast damaging shadows on the famous Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
At the conclusion of a contentious court hearing on Tuesday, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Reginald Boddie asked activist Alicia Boyd and Crown Heights residents LaShaun Ellis and Michael Hollingsworth to begin settlement negotiations next week.
Boyd agreed to participate in the settlement talks, which will take place in a private session in the judge’s chambers, and will include lawyers for the entities they are suing. Boyd, Ellis and Hollingsworth are suing City Councilmember Laurie Cumbo, the Department of City Planning and its Director Marisa Lago, plus Winston Von Engel, who is the department’s Brooklyn director. The City Planning Commission and the city Buildings Department are also targeted in the suit.