Going out on a shaking legal limb, the New York Court of Appeals on June 23 refused to overturn the historic landmark designation of New York City's Grand Central Terminal. The court decreed in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York¹ that the designation, which includes a scheme for transferring the development rights over the terminal to adjacent parcels, does not represent a deprivation of property in violation of the Due Process Clause. Moreover, the court held—without clear support—that the publicly created component in the value of private property should be disregarded in determining whether an owner can obtain a constitutionally guaranteed return on the property. Heartening as the result may be for landmark preservation advocates, the decision's promise may quickly wither when taken out of the unique development of takings law in New York and the unique facts in the Grand Central controversy.