Negotiations between city officials and the developers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC)
were not only left at a standstill after a hearing last Thursday, but without its presiding judge.

“This appears to be going nowhere, so let me just share something,” said Bronx Supreme Court Judge Ruben Franco, half hour into the proceeding, “this may be it for me on this case.”

The two sides had returned to court after Franco recommended the lease to the Kingsbridge Armory, which would be home to the ice center, be temporarily released to KNIC so it can pursue construction-funding options.

Franco explained that he has been asked to do other things within the judicial system and, although he feels strongly about the development, he told attorneys on both sides he’s done arbitrating the case.

“You guys will go on fighting and appealing and litigating and it goes nowhere,” said Franco. “Nobody has come up with any other possibilities.”

With Franco out, the city’s motion to dismiss now pending, and no future court date set it seems unclear where the case will go from here.

The two sides have been at loggerheads over the terms of the armory lease, which remains in escrow. While KNIC believes it has satisfied the terms of the lease thanks to a loan commitment by the state, city officials have repeatedly said the state’s word does not go far enough.

A standby commitment for $180 million has been secured, according to Bill Brewer, lead attorney representing KNIC, but told the Norwood News “we need the lease or we are stuck.”

KNIC has stood by their argument that if it can’t show their lenders that they have control over the lease then they won’t be able to officially get the funding needed to go ahead with the project.

Although KNIC has stated how confident they are that they can get all the funding necessary, their lenders haven’t made any official endorsements of the project, which is what the city wants in exchange for releasing the lease.

“All I hear is contingency on contingency,” said Scott Bridge, lead attorney representing the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the city’s realtor. “They want us to give them the lease based on the hope that they get other funding.”

The city’s biggest fear is that the project will stall halfway through construction because funding has dried up, presenting a major blow to the community.

“We never turn a shovel of dirt until we have the money,” Brewer said in response to the city’s concern.

No court date has now been set.