The Matter of Senator Tony Avella v. City of New York

Chief Judge DiFiore

(dissenting). Under the public trust doctrine, parkland in our State is dedicated to public use, and can only be alienated for non-park purposes if expressly autho*441rized by the state legislature. Our Court’s jurisprudence demonstrates unwavering support for the public trust doctrine. In such cases as Williams v Gallatin (229 NY 248 [1920]) and Friends of Van Cortlandt Park v City of New York (95 NY2d 623 [2001]), we held that the contemplated use of parkland for other than a “park use” violated the public trust doctrine. Notably, in those cases, the legislature had not…