Whether direct and specific approval by the state legislature is required for any use of a dedicated public park for non-park purposes.

Yes. New York City's plans to construct a water filtration treatment plant underneath an area of Van Cortlandt Park will interfere with the use and enjoyment of the park to such an extent that legislative approval is necessary before the city proceeds.

Plaintiffs sued the City of New York ("the City") in Federal Court to block the plans for constructing a water treatment plant in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The City had not obtained state legislative approval for this project despite its agreement to do so in a consent decree executed in 1998 with the EPA, the state, and other parties.

Relying on the precedent established in Williams v. Gallatin, 229 N.Y. 248 (1920), the Court reaffirmed the principle that public parkland in New York occupies a distinct position as a public trust and therefore enjoys heightened protection from non-park uses, regardless of the nature, necessity, and duration of the interference. Because neither Williams nor any subsequent case has held that conveyance of title to the parkland or the ultimate restoration of the land had any bearing on the required legislative authorization, the Court found little merit in the City's attempt to distinguish this case. The Court rejected the City's claim that the plant construction would have only a minimal impact on the park, noting that the proposed project would involve at least five years construction on twenty-three acres, the temporary closing of the Mosholu Golf Course, and numerous other environmental consequences, all of which would undoubtedly interfere with the park's primary and designated use. Thus, while noting that the proposed water treatment facility would serve a worthy public purpose, the Court concluded that because the power to regulate the uses of public parkland rests solely in the legislature, the City's proposal required legislative approval.