Judge Dismisses 2 Columbus Circle Lawsuit
THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 16, 2004 Metro Briefings
MANHATTAN: SALE OF 2 COLUMBUS CIRCLE ADVANCES A judge has dismissed a challenge by three preservation groups that hoped to block the sale of the vacant city-owned building at 2 Columbus Circle – the former Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art – to the Museum of Arts & Design. Justice Walter Tolub of State Supreme Court in Manhattan rejected the groups' claim that an environmental review was deficient and said that city and state agencies had not exceeded their power when they decided that the 40-year-old building was "not worthy of preservation in its present form." The groups object to the museum's plan to remove the modernist facade. Kate Wood, the executive director of Landmark West, one of the groups in the lawsuit, said no decision had been made on whether to appeal. James Barron (NYT)