Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY - Subdivision Streets Could Keep Names For Now

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY - A housing developer who resisted efforts to name five streets he built after local victims of Sept. 11 has won in court.

State Supreme Court Justice John McGuirk has ruled that developer Sol Ekstein can use the golf-themed street names he picked for 60-home Prestwick Gardens because he owns the roads until they're turned over to the village.
Ekstein, a Kiryas Joel builder, sued the village because village trustees had chosen to use the last names of five Monroe residents who died in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center: Massella, Marino, Barnes, Asher and Dowd.
In response to McGuirk's April 26 ruling, Ekstein's lawyer, Jim Sweeney, said that "honoring the memory of the Sept. 11 victims is a worthy objective. However, to do so at the expense of the rights of private citizens is wrong."
Mayor John Karl III, who had suggested the Sept. 11 road names and received approval from the victims' families, said yesterday that the village won't appeal the decision. It will simply rename the roads once Ekstein finishes his upscale development and turns over the roads to the village.
"It's just going to be an inconvenience for the people buying there," Karl said.

Ekstein's suit had also named Orange County's emergency services, since the 911 center enters new road names in its computer system to direct firefighters and other emergency responders. McGuirk ruled that the emergency service department weren't involved in the naming dispute.