On Wednesday, March 10, New York State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman ruled that the Empire State Development Corporation did not break the law by changing its development and payment plans for the Vanderbilt rail yards in 2009. Justice Friedman, however, noted that the Empire State Development Corporation should have been more transparent about their development plans.

On Thursday, March 11th at 1:30pm, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be joined by Governor David Paterson (D), Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (D), Bruce Ratner and others for the groundbreaking of Barclays Arena. The ceremony will take place at Fifth and Atlantic Avenues. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn will be demonstrating nearby.

With Forest City Ratner ready to break ground next week on its Atlantic Yards project, stakeholders who helped negotiate a community benefits agreement around the project say they will follow developments closely to make sure the CBA is fulfilled.

Despite Monday's trial court decision allowing the Empire State Development Corporation to use eminent domain, legal battles over the development of Atlantic Yards continue. BrooklynSpeaks, a community group, has a lawsuit pending that contests the project's environmental impact statement.

Bruce Ratner has announced that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Barclays Stadium will take place on March 11th. It is possible that construction may begin this week, prior to the ceremony. Property owners on the site will be forced to leave in the coming months.

On Monday March 1st, New York State Supreme Court Justice, Abraham Gerges, announced that the state has the right to use eminent domain to remove fourteen property owners from Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards site. Leading Atlantic Yards opponent Daniel Goldstein is one of the property owners affected by this ruling.

A judge has delayed a ruling that would approve the state’s request for seizure of the land in Brooklyn necessary for the Atlantic Yards project. The decision comes after arguments were heard during a condemnation hearing for the property.

In addition to the $100 million it has already committed to the project, the city has pledged another $31 million to Atlantic Yards. The city maintains that this latest donation is form infrastructure improvement funds and not from taxpayer dollars.

Lawyers representing Atlantic Yards opponents argue that the state's decision to extend Bruce Ratner's timetable for the site will precipitate significant blight. The initial environmental assessment of the site estimated that the project would be complete by 2016.

A lawsuit over the use of eminent domain at Atlantic Yards, originally scheduled for January, will not be heard until the middle of March. A change in the presiding judge may explain why the case was rescheduled.