In Salazar v. Village of Atlantic Beach, the Village Board made a determination that the plaintiff’s building was unsafe and demolition of the structure was required. Prior to the demolition, plaintiff filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York in an effort to stay the demolition. We successfully convinced the Court that the bankruptcy stay did not apply to a municipality exercising its police power for the public benefit. Thus, the Village proceeded with the demolition. Subsequently, the plaintiff filed a motion seeking sanctions and a contempt finding against the Village for proceeding with the demolition. We successfully defended the Village against the sanctions and contempt application, which the Court denied.
The plaintiff also filed an Article 78 petition in state Court seeking a declaration that the Village’s determination was arbitrary, as well as monetary damages for the value of the demolished building. Based upon our briefing, the Court denied the requested relief on Res Judicata grounds. The decision can be found here.
Michael A. Miranda, Maurizio Savoiardo and Robert Hewitt worked on the case.