FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 11, 2025

Statement from Mayor Noble Regarding the Pike Plan Injunction:

Unfortunately, the appellate court recently upheld the injunction put forth by attorneys representing William Gottlieb Real Estate, after appealing the trial court’s earlier decision that the City of Kingston has the authority to remove these canopies. According to the court’s timeline, this matter is now expected be heard in August 2025.

The safety of our residents is our utmost concern. The City of Kingston will continue to make emergency repairs as needed and will conduct frequent visual inspections while we wait for the case to be heard in court. We will also continue to prepare the RFP for the contractor who will perform the necessary removal once we ultimately prevail with this and the litany of other cases that WGRE has lodged against the City of Kingston.

As we have stated many times, the Pike Plan canopies have come to the end of their useful life and will only deteriorate further while we are tied up in this frustrating legal battle. The Common Council has voted that the City-owned structure must be removed, and we believe this is yet another ploy to exhaust our resources, cost the Kingston taxpayers money, and impede City operations.

This latest appeal from WGRE claims that the canopies have become a ‘fixture’ for the properties they abut, which would be a huge burden for all the property owners who don’t have unlimited resources and the deep pockets of Neil Bender. If the canopies onus were to fall to the adjoining property owners, the care and maintenance responsibilities would far outweigh any perceived benefits.

Despite this delay, we are confident we will prevail yet again and will be able to move forward in removing the canopies later this year.