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As the State moves to set the stage for high speed rail service, the rights of property owners whose access rights are affected by the closure of railroad crossings has become an emerging area of law. In this action, the firm represented a commercial nursery business that opposed the closure of a railroad crossing. The crossing provided access to landowner’s the farm fields on both sides of the track. The New York State Department of Transportation ordered Amtrak and the railroad to close the crossing, but the United States District Court permanently enjoined the closure of the crossing. The crossing remained open for approximately four (4) more years –until the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the trial court. The Second Circuit held that the DOT’s regulation of the crossing was not preempted by federal railroad laws. The landowner’s claim for the “taking” of the crossing is pending in the Court of Claims.