The Giuliani administration maintained that the developer had properly bought development rights from other property owners on the block and built a public plaza in return for the right to build the tower 20percentt higher than statutes allow.
New Jersey also bought development rights at Lincoln Park Airport in Morris County for $4.3 million in 2002.
Steve Levy, the county executive, said that since he took office in January 2004, the county has bought development rights to 520 acres.
Scenic Hudson, a preservation group, bought development rights to about 16percentt of the town's farmland in 1998, ensuring a future with open vistas.
Although conservation groups have bought development rights on farmland for years, they have rarely bought property outright to lease to an independent farmer.
The two towers that started the controversy could be built because Extell Development bought development rights from adjoining brownstones on the cross streets and from St. Michael's Church on Amsterdam Avenue.
