Philip E. Karmel

Fellow since 2026

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Partner

(212) 541-2311 (work)

(646) 842-2937 (mobile)

[email protected]

New York, New York

Region 2 NJ, NY, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 8 federally recognized Indian Nations

Environmental Law Topic

Administrative Law Air Climate Energy Environmental Enforcement Environmental Impact Review Environmental Justice Land Management & Land Use Risk Assessment Solid and Hazardous Waste Superfund Toxic Torts Water

Philip Karmel has broad experience serving as litigation and regulatory counsel in environmental, land use, real estate and toxic tort matters. His experience includes matters arising under environmental review statutes (NEPA and SEQRA); Clean Air Act permitting, compliance and litigation; Superfund and oil spill litigation and counseling; pesticide-related personal injury and property damage litigation; zoning and other land use litigation; government investigations; brownfields redevelopment; eminent domain litigation; and the environmental aspects of corporate and real estate transactions.

Major projects for which he has served as counsel include the Penn Station Area Project; the Belmont Project in Nassau County; NYU Core 2031; the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn; the Second Avenue subway; Riverside Center (a 5-building mixed-use development in Manhattan); the reconstruction of LaGuardia Airport; new terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport; the East River Repowering Project; Moynihan Train Hall; Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus; electric utility substations in New York City and Westchester; capital improvements at City College, the Fashion Institute of Technology and Brooklyn College; and the IKEA store in Brooklyn.

He has tried many cases in federal and state courts and before administrative law judges and arbitrators. His pre-trial and post-trial litigation experience includes briefing or arguing motions or appeals in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Degrees

B.A., M. Phill, J.D.

Admissions

New York

Court Admissions

State of New York
United States Supreme Court
United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits
United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Northern and Western Districts of New York and District of Columbia

Professional Societies and Organizations

Board Member, New York League of Conservation Voters
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Other Environmental Career Experience

Trial Attorney, Environmental Enforcement Section, U.S. Department of Justice, 1989-1994
Law Clerk, Judge Edward R. Becker, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1988-1989

Representative Publications (not including ACOEL Blogs)

Environmental and Toxic Tort Litigation (Chapter 155), COMMERCIAL LITIGATION IN NEW YORK STATE COURTS, vol. 4G, pp. 1019-1179 (Thomson Reuters 5th Ed. 2020 & annual supplements)
State Environmental Quality Review Act (Chapter 4), ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND REGULATION IN NEW YORK, pp. 375-492 (West Publishing 2nd Ed. 2009 & annual supplements) (with J. Kevin Healy)
Interstate Transport and Regional Approaches to Regulating Air Pollution (Chapter 5), THE CLEAN AIR ACT HANDBOOK (American Bar Association 4th Ed. 2016)

Citations of Major Published Cases

• Neighbors Opposing Noise, Inc. v. MTA, Index No. 69233/2023 (Sup. Ct. Westchester Co. Jan. 13, 2026) (https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=Yw21z4_PLUS_1zffSBHxM_PLUS_V2cAQ==&system=prod)
• AAG Management, Inc. v. NYSUDC, 233 A.D.3d 470 (1st Dep’t 2024)
• Purchase Meeting Religious Society of Friends v. Westchester Joint Water Works, Index No. 56719/2023 (Sup. Ct. Westchester Co. June 27, 2023) (https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=txFPVRxhjrp/ruZJQMmehw==&system=prod)
• Tronox Inc. v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 2021 WL 623998 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Feb. 17, 2021)
• Wan Hao Restaurant, Inc. v. City of New York, Index No. 720744/2020 (Sup. Ct. Queens Co. Jan. 5, 2021) (https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=FWHVcYEpeqNsgFOZhs5Rng==&system=prod)
• Peyton v. BSA, 36 N.Y.3d 271 (2020)
• Carnegie Hill Neighbors, Inc. v. City of New York, 188 A.D.3d 560 (1st Dep’t 2020)
• Barrett v. A&P Pacific Owner, LLC, 179 A.D.3d 883 (2d Dep’t 2020)
• Indian River County v. U.S. Dept. of Transp., 348 F. Supp. 3d 17 (D.D.C. 2018), aff’d, 945 F. 3d 515 (D.C. Cir. 2019)
• 10 West 57th Street Realty LLC v. BSA, Index No. 150485/2018 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. March 20, 2019) (https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=eHGEaG2oLBvbdjNoS9PjMw==&system=prod)
• Indian River County v. Rogoff, 110 F. Supp. 3d 59 (D.D.C. 2015), subsequent opinion, 201 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D.D.C. 2016), subsequent opinion, 254 F. Supp. 3d 15 (D.D.C. 2017)
• Sierra Club v. Martens, 53 Misc.3d 1204(A), 156 A.D.3d 454 (1st Dep’t 2017)
• Beverly Hills U.S.D. v. FTA, 2016 WL 4650428 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 1, 2016)
• HLP Properties, LLC v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc., 2014 WL 6604741 (S.D.N.Y.), subsequent opinion, 2015 WL 5092627 (S.D.N.Y. 2015)
• Yorkshire Towers Co. v. U.S. Dept. of Transp., 2011 WL 6003959 (S.D.N.Y. 2011)
• 233 East 69th Street Owners Corp. v. LaHood, 797 F.Supp.2d 326 (S.D.N.Y. 2011)
• Peter Williams Enterprises Inc. v. NYSUDC, 2010 WL 3703264 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2010)
• Kaur v. NYSUDC, 15 N.Y.3d 235 (2010)
• Develop Don’t Destroy (Brooklyn), Inc. v. ESDC, 94 A.D.3d 508 (1st Dep’t 2012)
• In the Matter of N.Y.S. Urb. Dev. Corp., 2010 WL 702319 (Sup. Ct. Kings Co. 2010)
• Goldstein v. N.Y.S. Urban Dev. Corp., 13 N.Y.3d 511 (2009)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc. v. Fyn Paint & Lacquer Co., Inc., 334 Fed. Appx. 390 (2nd Cir. 2009)
• Develop Don’t Destroy (Brooklyn) v. UDC, 59 A.D.3d 312 (1st Dep’t)
• Anderson v. N.Y.S. Urb. Dev. Corp., 45 A.D.3d 583 (2nd Dep’t 2007)
• Herald Square South Civic Ass’n v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc., 4/17/03, N.Y.L.J., p. 20, col. 6 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 2003)
• Dole Food Co. v. Patrickson, 538 U.S. 468 (2003)
• 27th Street Block Ass’n v. DASNY, 302 A.D.2d 155 (1st Dep’t 2002)
• Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Inc. v. Supervisor of Town of East Hampton, 293 A.D.2d 616 (2d Dep’t 2002)
• Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Inc. v. Town of Islip, 286 A.D.2d 683 (2d Dep’t 2001)
• In the Matter of Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc., 2001 WL 1572918 (NYS Bd. Elec. Gen. Siting & Env. 2001)
• In the Matter of Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc., 2001 WL 470661 (NYSDEC 2001)
• Town of Oyster Bay v. Occidental Chemical Corp., 987 F. Supp. 182 (E.D.N.Y. 1997)
• Merson v. McNally, 90 N.Y.2d 742 (1997)
• United States v. Broderick Investment Co., 862 F. Supp. 272 (D. Colo. 1994)