Four landowners along an abandoned stretch of Metro-North Railroad right-of-way in the Hudson Valley will split $390,000, bringing to over $3 million the total paid out for legal challenges stemming from Empire State Trail expansion plans.
The four landowners in Dutchess and Putnam counties accused the federal government of taking their property for the planned Beacon-Hopewell Rail Trail, a 41-mile stretch that courses through their property.
The property was seized in 2024 after Metro-North declared it no longer had any need for its Beacon Line right-of-way, which extends to New York’s border with Connecticut.
It was taken over by the Surface Transportation Board, an obscure federal agency with plans to convert the land into a trail that would link the Beacon-Hopewell trail with the Empire State Trail.
What to know about Metro-North right-of-way litigation
Attorneys for Lewis Rice, a St. Louis firm handling the litigation, argued that ownership rights should have gone to the property owners, not the federal government, after it was abandoned. The firm has declined to identify their clients.
To date, the firm has recovered $1,982,897 for landowners in the Metro-North litigation and has 15 cases pending. The firm specializes in so-called Rails to Trails litigation and has won several multi-million-dollar settlements for landowners across the country. One of the largest came in 2024, a $52 million settlement for property owners along a former Norfolk Southern rail corridor in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In April, another St. Louis firm said it had secured over $1.3 million in settlements on behalf of landowners in Dutchess and Putnam counties. That firm, Stewart, Wald & Smith, has seven pending cases in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Both firms say hundreds more landowners in Dutchess and Putnam counties could be eligible for a payout but have yet to file claims.
“We hope landowners will consider bringing a claim before the statute of limitations forever bars their opportunity for a recovery,” attorney Steven Wald said. Landowners have until Feb. 8, 2030 to file a claim.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA TODAY Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: $3 million in payments for landowners along Metro-North right-of-way
Reporting by Thomas C. Zambito, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Thomas C. Zambito, New York State Team | USA TODAY Network
