A recent Supreme Court of the State of New York ruling has found that in matters concerning the attempted closing of the East Hampton Airport, as it relates to the consequences to the people of Montauk, East Hampton Town Board Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and Council persons, Kathee Burke-Gonzaez, David Lys, Silvia Overby and Cate Rogers have unanimously “acted both beyond their legal abilities and in an arbitrary and capricious manner”. In light of the foregoing, “the Town Board is enjoined from declaring or closing HTO (East Hampton Airport) and the petitioners’ petitions are granted in their entirety”. “The East Hampton Town Board is not free to act as it wishes”. Once again, the East Hampton Town Board has legally failed in its eternal attempts to transfer over 7,000 commercial helicopter and fixed-wing flights to the Montauk airfield located on East Lake Drive, a narrow two-lane, no shoulder, dead-end country lane. A unanimous East Hampton Town Board action that would have increased drop off-pick-up ground vehicular traffic on East Lake Drive by over 21,000 individual trips per year. An action that all but one of the present East Hampton Town Board members (Van Scoyoc, Burke-Gonzalez, Lys and Overby) had promised and pledged in writing they would never consider. While the ruling addresses a “temporary closing restraint”, it is a major victory for Montauk in regard to the extraordinary damage that would occur if the East Hampton Town Board’s unanimous action permitted an East Hampton Airport closure regardless of the disastrous consequences to Montauk and its citizens. This failure by the East Hampton Town Board marks the 4th court-oriented attempt to transfer commercial flights to Montauk. All have met with abject failure at a cost of over $5 million in legal fees.
MONTAUK UNITED will continue to keep you informed of all future East Hampton Airport activity by the Town Board. However, for now, it is a great and significant victory for the people of Montauk.
Please help spread the word.
~ Tom Bogdan, MONTAUK UNITED
