Mark
Chertok
Principal

Mark
Chertok
Principal
Mark Chertok has been active in environmental and land use counseling, permitting, enforcement and litigation for more than thirty years. His experience spans a broad spectrum of substantive areas, including environmental impact statement (EIS) counseling and litigation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), wetlands and water quality permitting, particularly for waterfront projects, under the Clean Water Act and State counterparts, major transportation projects, air quality and climate change issues under the Clean Air Act, hazardous substances remediation and litigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), remediation under the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program, oil spill remediation under the New York State Navigation Law, compliance review of Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments, land use and zoning, coastal zone management and historic preservation. A testament to his wetlands experience, Mark served as an expert in freshwater wetland permitting in a condemnation trial in 2012.
Mark handles matters before numerous Federal, State and City agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of the Interior, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Department of State, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Department of City Planning. He has represented numerous government agencies, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Empire State Development, the New York State Thruway Authority, the New York State Department of Health, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, the New York City School Construction Authority, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. He has represented numerous municipalities with respect to development and SEQRA-related issues and has served as special environmental counsel to many school districts with regard to compliance with SEQRA for new schools or expansions. His clients have also included private industrial, commercial and financial entities and national environmental and civic organizations.
Mark has represented either the sponsoring or reviewing agencies, or private applicants, in major projects, including the Queens West Development Project, Columbia University’s expansion in northern Manhattan, the Bayonne Bridge Navigational Clearance program, the Willet’s Point (Queens, NY) development, the Goethals Bridge Replacement project, the Gateway at Bronx Terminal Market, the IAC Headquarters building, the Gowanus Green redevelopment project (Brooklyn, NY), the New NY (Tappan Zee) Bridge, the J.F.K. Airport Light Rail System, the Newark Liberty International Airport Monorail Project, the Essex County Resource Recovery Facility (Newark, NJ), the Selkirk (NY) GE Cogeneration Project, the Town of Smithtown (NY) Landfill Expansion Project, the Niagara Resource Recovery Facility (Niagara Falls, NY), the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Medical Waste Incinerator (New York City), the River Walk residential development (Detroit), the Prince’s Point development (Staten Island, NY), the Laurel Hill (Phelps Dodge) site (Queens, NY) and the Brooklyn Commons redevelopment.
Georgetown Company
Chappaqua Central School District
Columbia University Manhattanville Expansion
Phelps Dodge Brownfield Project
New Hope Power Company
Stockbridge-Munsee Community and Band of Mohican Indians of Wisconsin
River East Project
Muss Development – Prince’s Point
SPR represented Muss Development Corporation with respect to a proposed large-scale residential development on Prince's Point, which borders Staten Island. Shortly after Muss purchased the property, it was discovered to be seriously contaminated with hazardous wastes from historic uses, resulting in its listing as an Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site under the State Superfund Program. SPR provided legal advice pertaining to the remediation of the site, which took many years to complete, and then provided representation concerning State Tidal and Freshwater Wetlands permitting and associated environmental issues.
Lighthouse Landing
SPR represents Roseland/Sleepy Hollow, LLC, as an affiliate of Roseland Properties, the developer of the former General Motors Assembly site in Sleepy Hollow. The proposed Lighthouse Landing development is a mixed-use project, including residential, commercial and open space uses on a 97-acre site former industrial property bordering the Hudson River. The Firm has advised Roseland with respect to its participation in the Brownfield Cleanup Program and its proposed investigation and remediation of this former industrial site. In addition to the Brownfield work SPR is also assisting with environmental permitting issues, especially those pertinent to shoreline development, as well as preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.
Bronx Terminal Market
SPR represented the Related Companies' affiliate Related Retail Corporation with respect to the proposed redevelopment of the current site of the Bronx Terminal Market on the Harlem River, as a large-scale retail facility including a hotel. SPR provided legal advice with respect to the site's participation in the Brownfield Cleanup Program, into which the project was accepted in late 2004. SPR also advised the client with respect to waterfront permitting issues and other environmental matters.
City Island Estates
SPR represented the developer of a proposed townhouse development in City Island on the shores of the Long Island Sound. The firm represented the developer with regard to environmental permitting and hazardous materials issues.
Greater Jamaica Development Corporation
Sive, Paget & Riesel has represented the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, a private entity that acts to foster and facilitate development in Jamaica. The firm advised the Corporation in terms of environmental permitting and approvals necessary for its proposed redevelopment projects.
JFK Airtrain
Sive, Paget & Riesel advised the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey with regard to the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the construction of the JFK Airtrain, which runs from Jamaica Queens (where it connects with the LIRR and NYC Subway) to the main terminals at JFK airport. The EIS was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Airtrain was constructed.
Muss Development Corporation – SkyViewParc
Sive, Paget & Riesel represents the Muss Development Corporation with respect to the development of SkyViewParc, a mixed-use development located on the former Flushing Industrial Park site. SPR assisted with all aspects of the client's application to the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program, including preparation of the initial application, revisions, submission of reports and all other aspects of the State-supervised cleanup of the property. SPR has also assisted the developer in seeking cost recovery from the former owner of the property responsible for the contamination.
The Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge
Sive, Paget & Riesel represented the New York State Thruway Authority, which together with the Metro North Railroad, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, undertook the Tappan Zee Bridge/I287 Corridor environmental review. This process addressed the possible replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. The Firm advised the Project Sponsors with regard to the environmental review of the proposal pursuant to both NEPA and SEQRA, as well as to environmental permitting and related requirements.
Redevelopment of Former Domino Sugar Factory
The firm represents The Refinery, LLC, the developer of the former Domino Sugar facility on the East River in Brooklyn, with regard to waterfront permitting. The proposed development involves construction of new buildings that will include up to 120,000 gross square feet (gsf) of retail/commercial space, up to 100,000 gsf of community facility use, and up to 2,400 residential units (2.64 million gsf). Thirty percent of the units will be offered as affordable housing. In addition, the project includes development of approximately 4.1 acres of public open space including an approximately 1-acre lawn at the center of the site and a waterfront esplanade along the East River.
Bayonne Bridge Navigational Clearance Program
Whole Foods Supermarket – Gowanus, Brooklyn
Willets Point Development Project
Long Island Power Authority – Southampton to Bridgehampton Transmission Line Project
Roosevelt Union Free School District
“Environmental Law: Developments in the Law of SEQRA, 2017-2018 Survey of New York Law,” co-author Mark A. Chertok & Allison Sloto
For: Syracuse Law Review, Vol. 69, No. 4
“Environmental Impact Review in New York,” Contributing Author
For: Matthew Bender Elite Products
“Environmental Law: Developments in the Law of SEQRA,” co-authors Mark A. Chertok and Victoria S. Treanor
For: 67 Syracuse Law Review 897
“Environmental Law: Developments in the Law of SEQRA”, co-authors Mark A. Chertok and Victoria S. Treanor
For: 66 Syracuse Law Review 905
“NEPA and Little NEPAs and Environmental Litigation”
For: ALI-ABA
“The National Environmental Policy Act”
For: Boot Camp Course on Environmental Law, ELI Boot Camp
Major Milestones Reached for Important Port Authority Projects
Army Corps Reissues Nationwide Permits, Dividing NWP 12 Into Three
Council on Environmental Quality’s New NEPA Regulations: An Analysis
Court Narrows Scope of NWP 12 Ruling; Corps Appeals to Ninth Circuit
Nationwide Permit for Pipelines and Utility Projects Vacated on ESA Grounds
Harvard Law School, J.D., 1970, Cum Laude
State University of New York at Buffalo, A.B., 1967, Magna Cum Laude
New York, 1971
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Member, Board of directors of the New York City Environmental Law Leadership Institute