The Riverside Club is a former rowing clubhouse used as offices until 2003. The nearby bakery was active until the 1980s. (Nancy Griesau)

Two historic buildings in upstate New York evaded demolition again this month when a state supreme court judge ruled that their owner was required to abide by the state's environmental-quality review act before a teardown.

Judge James Canfield's Oct. 6 decision prevents George Weston Bakeries Inc. from tearing down the 1895 Riverside Club and the 1913 Freihofer Bakery, vacant for only two years. The buildings are located on the Hudson River in Troy, N.Y., north of its historic downtown, which served as the backdrop for films like The Age of Innocence and Scent of a Woman. (Two years ago, Eckerd Drugs withdrew its plans to build a big-box store on the site of the buildings. Read more >>)

The city of Troy issued a demolition permit for the buildings, but in May, just days before they were to be razed, the local Historic Action Network filed a lawsuit that left the final decision to the court.

"There have been two very negative features about most environmental litigation, and this case took on both of them and came down solidly on the side of the average citizen," says the group's attorney, Stephen Downs.

Canfield's decision pointed out that demolition-permit procedures are not exempt from the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process. Secondly, Canfield challenged the notion that only certain people have the right to file an environment-related lawsuit.

The act is difficult to understand, Downs says. "It was supposed to give voice to the public citizen, but it has become such a murky law that many laypeople simply don't understand it. Corporations with lawyers take advantage of that confusion."

George Weston Bakeries, which now must file for a demolition permit under the SEQRA review process, appealed the decision on Oct. 13.

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