The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Monday ruled that construction of two controversial electric power generators can continue while an appeal to block the building of the power plants is pending.

The ruling, in effect, appears to end any chance of defeating plans to build the two generators because they are expected to be completed and in operation by June 1 about 27 days before the Appellate Division rules on a decision which found the New York Power Authority (NYPA) did not have authority to build them.

That decision, handed down by Queens State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Golia last week, was immediately appealed by the NYPA and Golia’s decision was temporarily stayed, allowing construction at the Vernon Boulevard-East River site to continue.

Monday’s decision by a four-judge panel continued the stay until the appeal is ruled on, possibly by June 28. The court also set a schedule for briefs to be submitted prior to June and will hear arguments and possibly rule on that day.

No matter which way the court rules it’s likely that Silvercup Studios, the plaintiff in the case, and the NYPA, the respondent, will make the final appeal in the matter to the State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest tribunal.

By that time the two generators should be up and running, and if the Court of Appeals rules against the NYPA, it would be academic because it’s not likely they would order the plant to be shut down after the state spent millions of dollars to build them.

The precedent established in contested construction cases by the courts and the city Board of Standards and Appeals is to allow continuation of the project if the foundation has already been completed. The likelihood is that the NYPA plants in Long Island City will be far beyond that; in fact, they will probably be totally completed and the court will not do anything to change that.

The Gazette was unable to reach any principals in the case to get reaction to the Appellate Division’s ruling.—John Toscano