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Messy Yard Pits a Montauk Mechanic Against a Town on the Rise Messy Yard Pits a Montauk Mechanic Against a Town on the Rise
(about 20 hours later)
Despite its reputation as the Hamptons’ blue-collar sibling, life in Montauk, N.Y., is more and more about the money, specifically, real estate. This has been true for several years, as housing prices in the hamlet on the East End of Long Island have gradually approached those in its more fashionable sister towns, and high-class spots like Navy Beach and Ruschmeyer’s have started to move in.Despite its reputation as the Hamptons’ blue-collar sibling, life in Montauk, N.Y., is more and more about the money, specifically, real estate. This has been true for several years, as housing prices in the hamlet on the East End of Long Island have gradually approached those in its more fashionable sister towns, and high-class spots like Navy Beach and Ruschmeyer’s have started to move in.
But now, in time for the start of the summer season, comes the tale of Tom Ferreira, a Montauk mechanic who is battling the Town of East Hampton, in which the village sits, over the mess he deposited for years in the yard of his home on Navy Road.But now, in time for the start of the summer season, comes the tale of Tom Ferreira, a Montauk mechanic who is battling the Town of East Hampton, in which the village sits, over the mess he deposited for years in the yard of his home on Navy Road.
For nearly a decade, Mr. Ferreira, 56, piled the plot with a changing disarray of parked cars, beached boats, dilapidated trailers, old spare tires, rusty propane tanks, broken plastic crates, inoperable motors and a 40-foot antenna, running what officials of the town once called an unauthorized “recycling and scrap yard.” In 2009, tired of the unsightly heaps of junk, the officials hired a carting company and hauled it all away.For nearly a decade, Mr. Ferreira, 56, piled the plot with a changing disarray of parked cars, beached boats, dilapidated trailers, old spare tires, rusty propane tanks, broken plastic crates, inoperable motors and a 40-foot antenna, running what officials of the town once called an unauthorized “recycling and scrap yard.” In 2009, tired of the unsightly heaps of junk, the officials hired a carting company and hauled it all away.
This week, after years of fighting the removal of his property in both state and local courts, Mr. Ferreira took the town to trial in higher venue: Federal District Court, in Central Islip. In a classic Hamptons legal story, he has accused the town officials of improperly employing emergency health and safety laws in a conspiracy to forcibly clean his yard. The purpose of the plan? “To enhance the value of a neighboring piece of real estate,” his court papers say.This week, after years of fighting the removal of his property in both state and local courts, Mr. Ferreira took the town to trial in higher venue: Federal District Court, in Central Islip. In a classic Hamptons legal story, he has accused the town officials of improperly employing emergency health and safety laws in a conspiracy to forcibly clean his yard. The purpose of the plan? “To enhance the value of a neighboring piece of real estate,” his court papers say.
The trial, as it turns out, could not be timelier. On Monday, even as the jury was being picked, the Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that Gosman’s Dock, an old-timey seafood place on Montauk Harbor, had just been put up for sale at the astronomical asking price of $52.5 million. And with Memorial Day approaching, top-of-the-market rentals in Mr. Ferreira’s neighborhood near Fort Pond Bay were being listed for $2,000 a night.The trial, as it turns out, could not be timelier. On Monday, even as the jury was being picked, the Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that Gosman’s Dock, an old-timey seafood place on Montauk Harbor, had just been put up for sale at the astronomical asking price of $52.5 million. And with Memorial Day approaching, top-of-the-market rentals in Mr. Ferreira’s neighborhood near Fort Pond Bay were being listed for $2,000 a night.
In the trial’s opening arguments, Larry Kelly, Mr. Ferreira’s lawyer, admitted that his client was “a messy guy with a messy yard,” but argued that this conspicuous untidiness did not mean he was a danger to the public, as town officials have repeatedly asserted. What was really going on when the East Hampton Town Board hired flatbed trailers to clear the clutter from Mr. Ferreira’s land was not about good governance, but about gentrifying property, Mr. Kelly said.In the trial’s opening arguments, Larry Kelly, Mr. Ferreira’s lawyer, admitted that his client was “a messy guy with a messy yard,” but argued that this conspicuous untidiness did not mean he was a danger to the public, as town officials have repeatedly asserted. What was really going on when the East Hampton Town Board hired flatbed trailers to clear the clutter from Mr. Ferreira’s land was not about good governance, but about gentrifying property, Mr. Kelly said.
“In East Hampton Town,” he told the jury, “a key component of every resident’s thought process is: ‘What is the value of my home?’” He went on to say: “An auto mechanic in an old torpedo warehouse became an eyesore. There was intense pressure from the neighbors and that intense pressure was brought to other people, other people who helped take down this situation.”“In East Hampton Town,” he told the jury, “a key component of every resident’s thought process is: ‘What is the value of my home?’” He went on to say: “An auto mechanic in an old torpedo warehouse became an eyesore. There was intense pressure from the neighbors and that intense pressure was brought to other people, other people who helped take down this situation.”
Those other people, Mr. Kelly has contended, include a politically connected real-estate broker who stood to earn a sizable commission if she sold the house next door to Mr. Ferreira’s, which was owned by his estranged and aging aunt. Court papers say the broker persuaded nearly 40 Montauk residents to complain about Mr. Ferreira’s yard, even though when a fire marshal inspected it in May 2009, he discovered only a single violation: a fire extinguisher that was not up to code.Those other people, Mr. Kelly has contended, include a politically connected real-estate broker who stood to earn a sizable commission if she sold the house next door to Mr. Ferreira’s, which was owned by his estranged and aging aunt. Court papers say the broker persuaded nearly 40 Montauk residents to complain about Mr. Ferreira’s yard, even though when a fire marshal inspected it in May 2009, he discovered only a single violation: a fire extinguisher that was not up to code.
The conspiracy was set in motion, Mr. Kelly said, when a second inspection was conducted, one that determined that Mr. Ferreira was in fact in violation of local maintenance laws. This inspection might have been “doctored,” Mr. Kelly argued, adding that the first one had been “suppressed.”The conspiracy was set in motion, Mr. Kelly said, when a second inspection was conducted, one that determined that Mr. Ferreira was in fact in violation of local maintenance laws. This inspection might have been “doctored,” Mr. Kelly argued, adding that the first one had been “suppressed.”
Dismissing all of this as a distraction, Mark Nadi, a lawyer for the Town of East Hampton, began his own address with a blunt assertion: “This is a case about a junkyard.” And not just any junkyard, Mr. Nadi said, but one that for years had “festered like a wound,” filled with old cars whose toxic fluids might leach into the topsoil or, even worse, he said, suddenly combust and spread “like wildfire into other people’s homes.” Dismissing all of this as a distraction, Mark Radi, a lawyer for the Town of East Hampton, began his own address with a blunt assertion: “This is a case about a junkyard.” And not just any junkyard, Mr. Radi said, but one that for years had “festered like a wound,” filled with old cars whose toxic fluids might leach into the topsoil or, even worse, he said, suddenly combust and spread “like wildfire into other people’s homes.”
Where Mr. Kelly said he saw a real estate conspiracy, Mr. Nadi spoke of the necessity of municipal code enforcement. While he acknowledged that Mr. Ferreira had once owned a legitimate repair shop up the block, he said that he had lost it years ago — in a quintessential Montauk moment — when his landlord, the former teen heartthrob Ralph Macchio, raised the rent. By the time Mr. Ferreira had moved the shop to his yard on Navy Road, he was no longer fixing vehicles; instead, he was “cocooning” them, Mr. Nadi said. Moreover, the yard, as he put it, had become a “mole,” something small and ugly that grew into a “cancer,” and had to be removed. Where Mr. Kelly said he saw a real estate conspiracy, Mr. Radi spoke of the necessity of municipal code enforcement. While he acknowledged that Mr. Ferreira had once owned a legitimate repair shop up the block, he said that he had lost it years ago — in a quintessential Montauk moment — when his landlord, the former teen heartthrob Ralph Macchio, raised the rent. By the time Mr. Ferreira had moved the shop to his yard on Navy Road, he was no longer fixing vehicles; instead, he was “cocooning” them, Mr. Radi said. Moreover, the yard, as he put it, had become a “mole,” something small and ugly that grew into a “cancer,” and had to be removed.
Judge Joseph F. Bianco has the task of refereeing the dispute, which, in a strictly legal sense, concerns the question of whether town officials provided Mr. Ferreira with ample opportunity to contest the removal of his property or if the “raid,” as Mr. Kelly called it, amounted to an illegal search and seizure.Judge Joseph F. Bianco has the task of refereeing the dispute, which, in a strictly legal sense, concerns the question of whether town officials provided Mr. Ferreira with ample opportunity to contest the removal of his property or if the “raid,” as Mr. Kelly called it, amounted to an illegal search and seizure.
Running with that theme, Mr. Kelly began his presentation to the jury with a reading of the Fourth Amendment. Somewhat later, he compared the flatbed trucks that arrived at Navy Road to the quartering of British troops in American colonists’ homes.Running with that theme, Mr. Kelly began his presentation to the jury with a reading of the Fourth Amendment. Somewhat later, he compared the flatbed trucks that arrived at Navy Road to the quartering of British troops in American colonists’ homes.
Whatever the eventual result, the trial has provided Mr. Ferreira, whose family has lived on Navy Road since 1946, with the means by which to vent his spleen against officials in East Hampton. He not only lost his entire set of tools in the removal — his air compressor, his wet-dry vacuum, his 20-ton hydraulic press — but he also later got a bill for $20,000 to cover the cost of carting them away.Whatever the eventual result, the trial has provided Mr. Ferreira, whose family has lived on Navy Road since 1946, with the means by which to vent his spleen against officials in East Hampton. He not only lost his entire set of tools in the removal — his air compressor, his wet-dry vacuum, his 20-ton hydraulic press — but he also later got a bill for $20,000 to cover the cost of carting them away.
Mr. Ferreira moved full time to the house on Navy Road in 1995, and was especially upset over what this case suggested about the future of this sleepy little beach town. “I’ve been going out to Montauk since I was a little kid,” he said. “And trust me, I’ve seen a lot that’s changed.”Mr. Ferreira moved full time to the house on Navy Road in 1995, and was especially upset over what this case suggested about the future of this sleepy little beach town. “I’ve been going out to Montauk since I was a little kid,” he said. “And trust me, I’ve seen a lot that’s changed.”