Restaino Wins: Appeals Court Denies NFR’s Attempt to Reopen Centennial Park Eminent Domain Case

A New York State appellate court has rejected another attempt by Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) and its affiliated company, Blue Apple Properties Inc., to reopen a high-profile eminent domain case related to the city’s proposed Centennial Park development.

In a ruling released Friday, the Appellate Division of the Fourth Department denied a motion filed in March by NFR that sought to overturn a previous unanimous decision made on July 28th, 2023. That ruling supported the City of Niagara Falls’ right to seize up to 12 acres of land through eminent domain for the creation of a public park and events venue.

NFR’s motion was based on newly surfaced information suggesting the company may have never legally gained title to approximately five acres of the land in question, including what was once the 10th Street Park. NFR argued that this evidence could have changed the outcome of the original decision.

“Because this new evidence is manifestly inconsistent with the facts on which [the July 2023 ruling] is based, [NFR] respectfully asks this Court to vacate [the ruling],” wrote NFR’s attorney John Horn in court documents.

Horn also urged the court to reject the Niagara Falls City Council’s finding that the Centennial Park project would serve a public benefit, questioning whether it met the legal standard of serving a legitimate public purpose.

But the appellate court responded with a brief, three-sentence decision:

“Now upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is hereby ordered that the motion is denied.”

Mayor Robert Restaino, who initially declined to comment on the court’s decision, later issued a statement in support of the ruling.

"The ruling by the New York State Appellate Division clearly demonstrates that Niagara Falls Redevelopment is running out of legal options in its latest attempt to persuade the courts to reject the city's eminent domain action in our efforts to build Centennial Park," Restaino said.

“As the city has argued and the courts have continued to resolutely uphold, NFR never properly gained title to what was previously the 10th Street Park where Centennial Park will be constructed,” he added.

The mayor emphasized that NFR currently owns roughly 140 acres of property in downtown Niagara Falls.

“The fact that they are pulling out all the stops fighting the city over a few acres for which we are offering fair market value is revealing,” he said.

Restaino also criticized NFR for long claiming that a lack of city development was to blame for its own inactivity, even as the city now pushes forward with a $200 million public project that could attract tens of thousands of visitors annually.

“Now, here we are with a proposed $200 million venue and events center that will bring tens of thousands of people annually to downtown Niagara Falls on property legally owned by the city, and NFR is doing all it can to stop this city-driven development,” he said.

“This is not about a multi-billion-dollar data center as proposed by NFR that without the disputed acreage of 10th Street Park will not happen. It’s about a continued illogical pattern of preventing Niagara Falls from fulfilling its potential as a true world-class tourism destination.”

The City Council previously authorized its legal team to take steps to nullify the 2004 transfer of the 10th Street Playground property. The city’s special counsel, Hodgson Russ LLP, initiated a quiet title action to formally reclaim the land — a legal process to establish uncontested ownership.

While NFR maintains that the property was “lawfully” transferred, the courts have so far backed the city’s efforts. In their 2023 ruling, the appellate judges affirmed that “the city’s determination to exercise its eminent domain power is rationally related to a conceivable public purpose.”

Restaino Wins: Appeals Court Denies NFR’s Attempt to Reopen Centennial Park Eminent Domain Case