In a 22-page decision handed down on Monday, New York Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische rejected a challenge by the board of the Alfred condominium building near Lincoln Center to plans by Fordham University, which is just south of the center, to expand its campus, according to an article today by Josh Barbanel at wsj.com

The plans include two sites for residential towers that are slated to be sold to a private developer that can developed "taller than 15 Central Park West," according to the article.

The fight has its roots in the 1957 urban-renewal deal, championed by Robert Moses, in which the school received a "superblock" for its campus, running from West 60th to West 62nd streets and from Columbus to Amsterdam avenues.

Excluded from the land sale was Power Memorial Academy, a Catholic high school on the block that closed in 1984 and was later purchased by the developer of a 37-story residence called the Alfred Condominium at 161 West 61st Street.

In the lawsuit against Fordham's plan, the Alfred's condominium board charged that the city violated the covenants of the urban-renewal deal when it approved the expansion and it challenged the various actions taken by the City Planning Commission which were voted on and approved by the City Council on June 30, 2009, allowing Fordham's project to proceed. The approvals were challenged on the basis that respondents' decisions, determinations and actions are arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. Furthermore, Alfred Condominium was seeking a declaration that any future plans for development on Fordham's campus must be restricted in height to 200 feet or 20 stories high that it claimed were set in the original deal.

The article said that Sidney Goldfischer, the condominium board's president, also had "ethical concerns" about putting luxury housing in an urban-renewal site.

The current Lincoln Center campus, originally built for 3,500 students, now serves close to 8,000 students, according to Fordham officials. The plan calls for adding dormitories, library space, a new theater, a new law school and other academic buildings over the next 25 years.

The article said that the court ruling said that "over the years, the city had changed the terms set out in the original deed turning over the property to Fordham," adding that "while the condo could challenge the latest land-use changes, it no longer had the right to challenge the earlier decisions by the city to change the rules."

"Fordham spokesman Thomas Dunne said the decision was a significant victory for the university," the article said.

Elliott Meisel, a lawyer representing the condo, said it would likely appeal, adding that the city had "rubber-stamped" the Fordham plan without adequate review, the article said. It quoted him as stating that "This is an extraordinarily important land-use decision made by the city almost invisible to the public."

The land-use committee of Community Board 7 expressed many concerns in 2008 about the planned major redevelopment by Fordham University of its Lincoln Center campus.

It unanimously approved a resolution disapproving the university's proposed master plan for the site.

In the Spring of 2009, the City Planning Commission approved the university's plans, which had been somewhat revised with some of the towers being made shorter.

In a letter then sent to the commission, the condominium noted that many citizens believed that the city's transfer to Fordham of the two-square-block site "was a gift from the government to a religious institution and therefore violated the constitutional separation of church and state," adding that the city "paid approximately $16.50 a square foot for the land and sold it to Fordham for $6.50 square foot...."

The land-use committee of Community Board 7 expressed many concerns about the planned major redevelopment by Fordham University of its Lincoln Center campus.

Richard Asche, the chairman of the committee, remarked at the end of the lengthy meeting that he did not "think Columbia [University ever did anything this bad," a reference to the perpetual town/gown conflicts of both Columbia and New York universities with their expansion in their neighborhoods.