With the Spitzer administration now reconsidering plans for the expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, a lawsuit from a powerful community organization that could have held up plans has been dismissed.

The suit, filed by the Municipal Art Society, challenged the legitimacy of a required environmental review, citing the state’s failure to properly account for the environmental impact of the proposed development. A judge in state court ruled against the organization late last month.

Last year, the Municipal Art Society criticized numerous aspects of the Pataki administration’s plans for the Javits expansion, which with 300,000 square feet of new convention space was deemed by a chorus of critics to offer far too little given the $1.8 billion price tag. The plan was approved after years of debate last summer.

The Spitzer administration has been crafting a new plan for the convention center expansion for months, leaving officials and those in the real estate industry anxiously awaiting the new proposal and concerned about further delay.

A spokesman for the Municipal Art Society, Brian Connolly, said the organization was “encouraged” by the Spitzer administration’s comments thus far regarding the expansion, which could allay some previous concerns about the environmental impact.

At a Crain’s New York Business breakfast forum last month, the chairman for downstate development at the Empire State Development Corporation, Patrick Foye, signaled that the new plans would not be a radical departure from the previous plans and that the expanded convention center would stay within the general boundaries of the existing site.