Amy Cassidy - Sive Paget Riesel

Amy’s practice focuses on environmental and land use litigation, regulatory compliance counseling, and municipal law.

Before joining the Firm in 2022, Amy was Senior Counsel in the Environmental Law Division of the New York City Law Department, where she provided counsel to the City and its agencies on legal issues involving land use, zoning, wetlands protection, parkland and open spaces, underground storage tank compliance, Superfund sites, stormwater controls, watershed protection, and environmental justice.

Amy is also an experienced litigator. She has handled litigation involving the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the City Environmental Quality Review process (CEQR), the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR), and the New York City Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). Amy has also handled adjudicatory hearings challenging agency decisions regarding environmental permits and has tried jury cases to verdict.

Prior to joining the Environmental Law Division, Amy was in the Legal Counsel Division, where she drafted and reviewed City and State legislation, board resolutions, and agency rules and regulations. She also provided legal counsel to City agencies, the Mayor’s Office, and City Council and served as the Department’s Legislative Affairs liaison, helping to develop and promote the Department’s legislative initiatives.

In January 2020, Amy was promoted to the Law Department’s Deputy Chief of Staff position and was later named the Department’s COVID-19 project manager, which involved providing legal counsel to City Hall and New York City agencies on a variety of issues, including vaccine administration, COVID-19 safety requirements, and risk management. Amy was recognized by the Frederick O’Reilly Hayes Foundation for her contributions to City government programs and processes that addressed individual and community needs during the pandemic.

Since 2015, Amy has regularly served as an adjunct professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law as a trial team coach.

MTA Congestion Pricing

Location: New York, NY

The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), an affiliate of the MTA, along with the New York State and New York City Departments of Transportation (collectively, the Project Sponsors), have proposed the Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP) for Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approval under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP). This proposal is the first in this country for congestion pricing in a city to reduce congestion (and, in this case, also to raise funds for MTA capital projects). In June 2023, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the proposed CBDTP was issued by FHWA in coordination with the Project Sponsors. SPR has counseled the MTA/TBTA in the development of the EA, including outreach, interfacing with federal, state, local and regional agencies, and advising with respect to various legal issues, as well as with respect to the VPPP. SPR is also representing the MTA/TBTA in nine federal litigations challenging the FONSI, including one brought by the State of New Jersey. In one of those litigations, the Court for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an Opinion and Order on June 20, 2024, affirming the validity of the EA and FONSI.

“Environmental Law: Developments in the Law of SEQRA”

For: Syracuse Law Review

2024 | Written by Mark Chertok, Amy Cassidy and Ahlia Bethea

The Supreme Court Significantly Alters the Landscape for Reviewing and Challenging Federal Agency Action

Within a three-day period at the tail end of its term, the Supreme Court issued two decisions that significantly affect the federal administrative law landscape, and will necessarily influence environmental regulations and enforcement in years to come. Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo, et al ...

NYSDEC Publishes Proposed Guidance Incorporating Environmental Justice Considerations into Existing Permit Processes

On September 27, 2023, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) published a draft policy aimed at implementing Section 7(3) of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act

Governor Hochul Approves Changes to Environmental Justice Amendments

On March 3, 2023, Governor Hochul approved the New York State Legislature’s “chapter amendment” (S01317/A01286) to the environmental justice law that was enacted in December 2022 (S8830/A2103-D). The original legislation amended the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process ...

Governor Hochul Approves Environmental Justice Amendments to SEQRA

On December 30, 2022, Governor Hochul approved a bill passed by the New York State Legislature (S8830/A2103-D), ...

Amy
Cassidy

Associate