Flashback quote of the day: from Poletown to Atlantic Yards

"It is hard to imagine an economic development program that is structured in a serious way that would not survive a 'public purpose' challenge."

--Stephen Lefkowitz, former general counsel to the New York State Urban Development Corporation (now Empire State Development Corporation), National Law Journal, 6/1/81, as quoted in the 1989 book Poletown: Community Betrayed, about a notorious eminent domain case in Detroit.

Now a partner in the law firm Fried, Frank, Lefkowitz has worked on Atlantic Yards as well as MetroTech, Yankee Stadium, and many other projects.