[5] In 1982, Griesa blocked the construction of Westway, a proposed six-lane highway on the West Side of Manhattan, ruling that the permit for the project's landfill was invalid because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had failed to comply with the requirements for an adequate statement on the environmental impact.
Although his decision dismissed various other attacks that environmental groups were using to stop the project in a series of lawsuits, he left one critical issue and said that the road might harm striped bass.
[8][9] In 1985, after the Army Corps of Engineers completed another environmental review, Griesa again faulted their methods and record keeping, voided their permit and continued his injunction against the construction of Westway.
Tyco had filed against its former CEO Dennis Kozlowski, asserting that the $500 million in compensation and benefits he received during his time of disloyalty (while he was committing grand larceny and other crimes), between 1997 and 2002, were forfeit under New York's "faithless servant" doctrine.
[12][15][14] In 2014, Griesa presided over the Argentine debt restructuring, on remand following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to permit vulture funds, who in the period June 2001 to November 2003 (that is from half a year before the Argentine default on December 26, 2001) bought bonds, which are negotiable instruments and therefore, like bond owners all over the world, never drew any pay from the issuing country, to access potentially an array of bank records to locate financial assets overseas in seeking compensation.
"[17] Through an official press release published on Friday afternoon, June 27, 2014, the Argentine government stated that Griesa attempted to "block the payment for bondholders," and committed an abuse of authority, after cancelling the deposit made on Thursday into a Bank of New York account.
[19] Griesa saw the elevation of Mauricio Macri to the office of President of Argentina as a key development that, in his words, "changes everything" and may lead to a final resolution of the disputes arising from the default.