PR News | Southampton Raps Eruv Battle as Costly, Wasteful

Maureen Liccione Liccione

Southampton has accused the East End Eruv Assn. of saddling the town with “exorbitant” costs in the town’s efforts to block erection of a Jewish religious boundary. A state ruling could end the entire action, SH claims.

Should New York State back the position of the SH Zoning Board that any signs on SH utility poles are against town rules, the case would “be over” and there would be “nothing to litigate,” Attorney Maureen Liccione of Jaspan Schlesinger told Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tomlinson Feb. 26 in Central Islip.

Robert Sugarman of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, representing EEEA at the status conference, said there are other issues besides the legality of sign placement including “the denial of First Amendment religious freedom rights to resident of the town.”

Liccione said, “If the state court upholds the Zoning Board’s determination not to allow this group to defy its sign law, as any other applicant would have to do for any other purpose, religious or otherwise, it would seem to me that this case is over, that there will be nothing to litigate. So to put SH through discovery for a case that—either the Supreme Court of Suffolk County or the Appellate Division Second Department will put an end to--seems to be a terrible waste of municipal resources.”

Should either Court make that ruling, “It seems to me there is no federal case,” she added. She said the town is against moving forward with discovery for litigation at the federal level as is being sought by EEEA. It has already spent “tens of thousands of dollars on document discovery,” she said. It has “Innumerable computers and hardware that had to be searched.”

SH Not Insured for the Litigation

Liccione, noting SH is “not insured” for this matter, said the town “expended exorbitant amounts of money only to have the case dismissed and then partially dismissed and stayed.”

Payments to Jaspan Schlesinger totaled $665,860 as of last October when the appropriations stopped. Another $10,000 was appropriated to the law firm in January.

WHB, noting it is insured for this legal action, had paid $125,118 for outside legal counsel. Quogue had paid $109,859. Figures were obtained via Freedom of Information filings with the towns.

SH, which includes Westhampton Beach, Quogue and 14 other towns, villages and hamlets, has a 2015 budget that estimates revenues at $79.3 million and costs at $80.8M.

SH, whose top official is Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, has no one assigned to PR or to handle the press. The same is true of WHB and Quogue. Town Attorney is Tiffany Scarlato.

While WHB has a link on its website to more than 70 filings involved in the eruv litigation, the SH website has no mention at all of the litigation.

Sugarman Says SH Can Afford It

Sugarman said “The fact that SH chose not to be insured and chose to defend against all those claims is their own choice and it ought not to be at all persuasive for them to come in a plead poverty in effect is what they are doing—they’re a huge town with a huge budget.”

Sugarman, proposing that the stay at the state level be lifted, said he believes the case should “go forward so that we’re not in the seventh and eighth years.”

Judge Tomlinson asked the two sides “for a list of things you believe the Court has to address.” She expressed hope that the matters can be “resolved expeditiously.” However, she noted that she can’t “bring someone into a settlement discussion where it’s pretty clear to me the parties felt constrained no matter what’s offered, they’re not going to come to a resolution.” She said she would not therefore attempt a settlement discussion at this point.

 Current Docket of SH on Eruv

Here’s the most recent available docket of the case involving Southampton. One filing was said by Judge Tomlinson to be 70 gigabytes (a gigabyte is one billion bytes).

Order(Other) ORDER re 78 Letter filed by Simcha Pollack, Deborah Pollack, East End Eruv Association, Inc. The Court is well aware of the issues that remaining pending in this case and the related cases. The parties will receive notification via ECF when the Court files an order. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 10/30/2014. (Kandel, Erin).

October 28, 2014 00:00 Letter Document: 78 Letter (enclosing Article 78 Petition) by East End Eruv Association, Inc., Deborah Pollack, Simcha Pollack (Attachments: # 1 (Sugarman, Robert)  .

October 23, 2014 00:00 Letter  Document: 77 Letter by Jewish People for the Betterment of Westhampton Beach (Sinnreich, Jonathan)  .

October 23, 2014 00:00 Order(Other) ORDER re 76 Reply in Support filed by Jewish People for the Betterment of Westhampton Beach. Pursuant to the Court's Individual Practice Rule (3)(A)(1), replies are not permitted on letter motions. The Court further points out that counsel did not seek permission to file a reply. Consequently, DE 76 is rejected as an improper reply on the letter motion designated DE 74 and will not be considered by the Court. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 10/23/2014. (Kandel, Erin)  .

October 21, 2014 00:00 Reply in SupportDocument: 76  REPLY in Support re 74 Order on Motion to Intervene, Pursuant to Rule 60(b) filed by Jewish People for the Betterment of Westhampton Beach. (Sinnreich, Jonathan)  .

October 20, 2014 00:00 Response in Opposition to Motion  Document: 75 RESPONSE in Opposition re 74Order on Motion to Intervene, Pursuant to Rule 60(b) filed by East End Eruv Association, Inc., Deborah Pollack, Simcha Pollack. (Buchweitz, Yehudah)  .

October 15, 2014 00:00 Set Aside : 74 Letter MOTION to Set Aside 72 Order on Motion to Intervene, Pursuant to Rule 60(b) by Jewish People for the Betterment of Westhampton Beach. (Sinnreich, Jonathan)  .

September 24, 2014 00:00 Order on Motion to Dismiss  Document: 73 ORDER re 38 Motion to Dismiss: Defendants' motion to dismiss the Complaint is GRANTED to the extent that Plaintiffs' Sixth Cause of Action is dismissed, without prejudice, and this action is STAYED pending determination of the Article 78 proceeding in New York state court. SEE ATTACHED MEMORANDUM AND ORDER for details. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 9/24/2014. (Lanin, Debbie)  .

September 24, 2014 00:00 Order on Motion to Intervene  Document: 72 ORDER denying 11 Motion to Intervene. The motion to intervene filed by Jewish People for the Betterment of Westhampton Beach a/k/a Jewish People Opposed to the Eruv is DENIED. SEE ATTACHED MEMORANDUM AND ORDER for details. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 9/23/2014. (Lanin, Debbie)  .

September 17, 2014 00:00 Letter  Document: 71 Letter requesting a telephonic conference regarding case status by East End Eruv Association, Inc. (Sugarman, Robert) . Reflects complaints, answers, motions, orders and trial notes entered from Jan. 1, 2011. Additional or older documents may be available in Pacer.  View more case details in PACER (separate subscription required).

May 23, 2014 00:00 Reply in OppositionDocument: 70 REPLY in Opposition re 69 Letter Filed by Plaintiffs Dated May 22, 2014 filed by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Liccione, Maureen)  . May 22, 2014 00:00 Letter  Document: 69 Letter to Magistrate Judge Tomlinson by East End Eruv Association, Inc., Deborah Pollack, Simcha Pollack (Attachments: # 1  Document: 67 Letter to Magistrate Judge Tomlinson by East End Eruv Association, Inc. (Mishkin, Jessie)  .

April 11, 2014 00:00 Letter ent: 66 Letter Providing Dial In Information by East End Eruv Association, Inc. (Buchweitz, Yehudah)  .

April 09, 2014 00:00 Scheduling Order SCHEDULING ORDER: Based on the representations of counsel, the Court is scheduling a telephone conference for April 14, 2014 at noon. Only the parties in this matter need attend. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 4/9/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

April 08, 2014 00:00 Letterment: 65 Letter Providing Cost Estimate for E-Discovery Collection by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals (Presser, Seth)  .

April 04, 2014 00:00 Letter ent: 64 Letter providing 2nd Circuit Court Decision by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals (Presser, Seth)  .

April 02, 2014 00:00 Letter ent: 63 Letter in opposition to defendants' letter filed at docket entry 62 by East End Eruv Association, Inc., Deborah Pollack, Simcha Pollack (Sugarman, Robert)  .

March 28, 2014 00:00 Letter ent: 62 Letter -Supplement Defendants' Reply Memorandum of Law by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals (Liccione, Maureen)  .

March 24, 2014 00:00 Order(Other) ORDER re 61 Letter, filed by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. Defendants' request to supplement their reply to the motion to dismiss is granted. Plaintiffs may respond to Defendants' submission. Neither filing is to exceed three pages. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 3/24/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

March 14, 2014 00:00 Order on Motion for Protective Order  Document: 58 ORDER denying 51 Motion for Protective Order. SEE ATTACHED ORDER for details. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 3/14/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

March 03, 2014 00:00 Order on Motion for Protective Order ORDER striking 53 Motion for Protective Order. Defendants' "motion" constitutes an impermissible reply to a letter motion. Thus, the Court is rejecting this submission. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 3/3/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

February 28, 2014 00:00 Protective Order  Letter MOTION for Protective Order by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Liccione, Maureen)  .

February 27, 2014 00:00 Response in Opposition to Motion  Document: 52 RESPONSE in Opposition re 51 Letter MOTION for Protective Order (Letter addressed to the Hon. A. Kathleen Tomlinson) filed by East End Eruv Association, Inc., Deborah Pollack, Simcha Pollack. (Buchweitz, Yehudah)  .

February 27, 2014 00:00 Scheduling Order SCHEDULING ORDER: Due to a conflict in the Court's calendar, and based on counsel's representations on a telephone call with the Court's law clerk, tomorrow's telephone status conference is adjourned to March 14, 2014 at noon. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 2/27/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

February 25, 2014 00:00 Protective Order  Letter MOTION for Protective Order by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. Maureen)  .

February 20, 2014 00:00 Order(Other) ORDER re 49 Letter filed by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. If the Court finds that oral argument is necessary it will contact the parties to set a date. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 2/20/2014. (Buckel, Katherine).

February 06, 2014 00:00 Order on Motion for Extension of Time to File ORDER granting 47 Motion for Extension of Time to File. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 2/6/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

February 05, 2014 00:00 Extension of Time to File Document  Document: 47 Letter MOTION for Extension of Time to File Statistics re: Search Terms, To Meet and Confer, and, if needed, To File Protective Order by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Presser, Seth)  .

February 03, 2014 00:00 Reply in Support  REPLY in Support -Defendants' Reply Memorandum of Law in Support of the Motion to Dismiss The Complaint filed by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Liccione, Maureen) .

February 03, 2014 00:00 Memorandum in Opposition  Document: 44 MEMORANDUM in w.law360.com/dockets/documents/52efd61aae93a82b0c00001b>  Document: 42 MEMORANDUM in Support re 38 MOTION to Dismiss -Notice of Motion to Dismiss Complaint -Defendants' Memorandum of law in Support of Motion to Dismiss filed by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Liccione, Maureen)  .

February 03, 2014 00:00 Dismiss  Document: 38 MOTION to Dismiss -Notice of Motion to Dismiss Complaint by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. Responses due by 1/17/2014 (Liccione, Maureen)  . January 06, 2014 00:00 Reply in Opposition  REPLY in Opposition re 31 Letter Motion to Compel Discovery filed by The Town of Southampton. (Presser, Seth)  .

January 06, 2014 00:00 Extension of Time to File Document  Document: 32 Letter MOTION for Extension of Time to File and Serve Motion to Dismiss by The Town of Southampton. (Presser, Seth)  .

January 06, 2014 00:00 Order(Other) ORDER re 33 Reply in Opposition filed by The Town of Southampton. The Court will not reject plaintiffs' filing nor will it treat the filing as a motion to compel. The defendants are free to submit a response not to exceed six pages, provided that the response be submitted by 6 p.m. today in light of tomorrow's discovery status conference. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 1/6/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

January 06, 2014 00:00 Order on Motion for Pre Motion Conference ORDER terminating 14 Motion for Pre Motion Conference. The motion was addressed at the November 22, 2013 Initial Conference. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 1/6/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

January 06, 2014 00:00 Order on Motion for Extension of Time to File ORDER granting 32 Motion for Extension of Time to File. The parties' amended briefing schedule is SO ORDERED. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 1/6/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

January 02, 2014 00:00 Order(Other) ORDER re 29 Letter filed by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. Counsely may submit any declaration they wish if the purpose is to attach exhibits related to the motion to dismiss. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 1/2/2014. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

December 27, 2013 00:00 Order on Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages Document: 28 ORDER granting in part and denying in part 27 Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages specifically for an enlargement of the page limit with regard to the Motion to Dismiss to be served on or before January 3, 2014. The motion is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part. The parties may serve Memoranda of Law not to exceed 40 pages. To the extent that the facts are driving the recitation, counsel can utilize affidavits from an individual with first-hand knowledge (not counsel) to set forth the facts germane to the motion. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 12/27/2013. (Ryan, Mary) .

December 26, 2013 00:00 File Excess Pages  Document: 27 Letter MOTION for Leave to File Excess Pages , specifically for an enlargement of the page limit with regard to the Motion to Dismiss to be served on or before January 3, 2014 by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Presser, Seth)  .

November 22, 2013 00:00 Order(Other) ORDER re 24 Letter filed by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. The parties' schedule is approved. At the January 7, 2014 status conference, the parties will be expected to report back regarding the status of discovery, particularly the 70 gigabytes of non-email data. The Court reminds the parties of their obligation to work collaboratively to narrow the scope of the search terms to be applied, utilizing principles of proportionality. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 11/22/2013. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

November 19, 2013 00:00 Reply to Response to Motion   Document: 22 REPLY to Response to Motion re 11 %2Fdoc1%2F12319111070> Exhibit) (Sinnreich, Jonathan)  .

November 18, 2013 00:00 Order on Motion for Extension of Time to File ORDER granting 19 Motion for Extension of Time to File. Based on the representations of counsel, the parties' are directed to submit a letter to the Court on or before November 21, 2013 detailing any agreements reached between the parties and any remaining disputes. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 11/18/2013. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

November 15, 2013 00:00 Extension of Time to File Document  Document: 19 Letter MOTION for Extension of Time to File letters to Court regarding discovery agreements and disputes by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Presser, Seth)  .

November 05, 2013 00:00 Reply in Support Document: 16 REPLY in Support re 11 MOTION to Intervene filed by Jewish People for the Betterment of Westhampton Beach. (Hill, Timothy)  .

October 30, 2013 00:00 Pre Motion Conference  Document: 14 Letter MOTION for pre motion conference by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Attachments: Exhibit B) (Guido, Robert)  .

October 28, 2013 00:00 Memorandum in Opposition  Document: 13 MEMORANDUM in Opposition re 11 MOTION to Intervene filed by East End Eruv Association, Inc., Deborah Pollack, Simcha Pollack. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Jessie B. Mishkin, # 2 Declaration of Rabbi Leon A. Morris) (Buchweitz, Yehudah)  .

October 11, 2013 00:00 Intervene Document: 11 MOTION to Intervene by Jewish People for the Betterment of Westhampton Beach. (Attachments: # Exhibit) (Hill, Timothy)  October 09, 2013 00:00 Pre Motion Conference  Document: 10 Letter MOTION for pre motion conference by The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. (Attachments: #1)

October 04, 2013 00:00 Scheduling Order SCHEDULING ORDER: The parties are directed to appear for a conference on November 8, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. Ordered by Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson on 10/4/2013. (Buckel, Katherine)  .

August 27, 2013 00:00 Complaint Document: 1 COMPLAINT against The Town of Southampton, The Town of Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals Disclosure Statement on Civil Cover Sheet completed -Yes,, filed by Deborah Pollack, East End Eruv Association, Inc., Simcha Pollack. (Attachments: # 1