Last week I saw this lady in the SUV holding up seven or eight cars as she waited for a parking spot by the post office. The line stretched all the way out into the street. This is inconsiderate and dangerous for the cars at the end of the line; they could be struck by vehicles whizzing along Main Street.
She finally found her spot. I figured she deserved some publicity.
And here is the Press Release that was attached:
Lawsuit Commenced Against Unlawful Hotel Project
PRESS RELEASE 14 December 2009
SUMMARY
The Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy, Inc., Michelle Pizer, President of the Stony Brook University Environmental Club and Muriel Weyl, a distinguished resident of Stony Brook and New York City, have filed suit in State Supreme Court, Manhattan, against the State University of New York. They seek a judicial declaration that SUNY’s efforts to sublease public lands at the main entrance to Stony Brook University to build a 135-room commercial hotel is based upon special enabling legislation that expired in 1990, and thus is unlawful.
BACKGROUND
In 1986 and 1989, the New York Legislature enacted special enabling legislation that permitted SUNY to lease 11 acres of public land on the Stony Brook campus to a private developer capable of construction and operation of a conference center/hotel on the campus, primarily to facilitate educational activities. The site the legislature specified is untouched perimeter forest, lining the western side of Nicolls Rd, a heavily wooded four lane commercial highway that bisects the campus.
By its terms, the authority granted to SUNY by the special legislation expired if the Attorney General, the Director of the Budget and the Comptroller of the State of New York did not approve a lease to a private developer by August 2, 1990. We maintain that the Legislature, which specified a deadline, did not intend or authorize SUNY to enter into a sham lease with a paper company for 20 years, while no hotel was constructed. This is exactly what has occurred.
On or about December 5, 1989, SUNY as landlord entered into a ground lease with the Stony Brook Foundation Realty, Inc. as tenant. Although required by the special legislation, the Attorney General did not approve the substance of the ground lease. We maintain that the lease is therefore invalid and provides no authority.
The suit claims that SBF Realty Inc. has no experience whatsoever, and was not capable of, constructing or operating a conference center/hotel. Indeed, the enabling legislation expired and no hotel was built.
NO PAYMENTS EVER MADE IN LIEU OF REAL ESTATE TAXES
Moreover, as a check on SUNY and its proposed developer, the special legislation explicitly provided that unless the lessee of the land “…pays[s] an amount equal to and in lieu of all property taxes…” the underlying lease or contract “shall be void”.
To date no payments in lieu of taxes have been made by SBF Realty Inc.; neither has SUNY demanded it. Moreover, a million dollars in rent due to SUNY was forgiven. The plaintiffs claim that the 1989 ground lease
is null and void and the planned hotel construction has no legal authority because the statutory requirement that Realty make payments in lieu of taxes was never followed.
PRESIDENT STANLEY’S CONFLICT OF INTEREST
According to a May 5, 2009 story in the online newspaper the Stony Brook Independent, the university's new president, Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., receives an annual salary which includes $400,000 from SUNY, as well as $150,000 annually from the Stony Brook Foundation, which are opposite parties - Landlord and Tenant - to the 1989 ground lease.
On October 14, 2009 President Stanley announced that an agreement had been reached with Harbor Construction Management LLC of Port Jefferson NY to construct a 135-room commercial hotel. Harbor is owned by a former trustee of SBF. Because the President has a fiduciary duty to SUNY, and not to SBF, his participation in the real estate transaction is forbidden as an impermissible conflict of interest.
Our lawsuit seeks a halt to the hotel project and the return of the land to SUNY. It follows weeks of fruitless negotiation by students, professors, community organizations, residents, and local legislators with President Stanley’s office to find a more appropriate site for the hotel with less environmental impact and consistent with the educational mission of the university. SUNY needs to seek authorization of a new ground lease from the New York Legislature. President Stanley’s intransigence leaves us no alternative but to seek relief from the courts.
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For more information, telephone our special litigation hotline:
206-426-5487.
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The Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy, Inc. (SBEC) is a community based, non-profit corporation with a mission to help preserve, protect and enhance the unique environmental heritage of the greater Stony Brook area. SBEC is governed by an elected Board of Directors that includes community leaders, scientists, educators, environmental consultants, university alumni and students.
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**This is the format to follow to become a Party of Interest:
December 4, 2009
Ms. Barbara Chernow
Vice President for Facilities and Services
221 Administration Building
State University of New York
Stony Brook NY 11794-1002
Re: SEQRA Review of Proposed Campus Hotel
Dear Ms. Chernow:
This is to request that [the Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy] be designated as a Party of Interest pertaining to all matters related to the SEQRA review for the proposed campus hotel.
[The Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy] wish[es] to be informed of the time and place of the public hearing to discuss the SEQRA review. Clearly the public hearing should be held here and not in Albany.
[The Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy] also wish[es] to be assured that the proceedings of the SEQRA public hearing, including submitted documents, will be incorporated into the final review.
Sincerely,
[Malcolm J. Bowman]
[President]
Very high tide combined with rain on December 5th. Pictures taken along Shore Road, mid afternoon. The water is nibbling at the road.
Here he comes trotting down Main Street, Stony Brook, at 2:00 today.
The curving line from top to bottom is Nichols Road, a very busy highway that has been kept wooded and non-commercial ... up till now. This plan for a hotel at this spot is a huge environmetal blunder and one hopes the perpetrators of the ill-advised project can be made to see reason. On the left is the main campus. On the right is the Health Sciences Center.
Color drains out of the natural world as the days grow shorter. Goldenrod holds up grey fluff where yellow flowers were. Almost everything is grey. This pointed rock is the spot where I took pictures of four young barn swallows on July 7th.
Stony Brook University has announced plans to build a Hilton Hotel on the campus. Of all the spots they could choose (and there are several good alternate locations) they decided to destroy the eleven acres of mature woodland at the main entrance. I join my voice with the many whose alarm is flooding the new President and the local newspaper with letters. The Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy is very active in this campaign. Here are some of the letters to the newspaper (They start with the 6th letter down):
I've been meaning for months to take pictures of the sunflowers growing in front of the library at SCC Ammerman. They were great--but they wouldn't wait for me. They bloomed, made seeds, were partially harvested, and now they are in their bedraggled dotage. Don't you think they still have character? 
In the water
On the shore
Not afraid of humans
Or each other 
Another nice feature of Melville Park: a replica of an original grist mill. Looks pretty authentic, doesn't it? The original mill was built in 1664. It was rebuilt in 1669. A third mill was built with the help of Donald A. Spetta in 1937 and that is the mill that stands there now. The roof was re-shingled about ten years ago.
The boxy Scion. Brilliantly practical/ugly. My bike would fit in the back: more cycling freedom. I went into the showroom on an impulse the other day and sat in one and brought home a brochure. Hmmm ...
Enlarge the picture and you can just make out some names and initials romantically etched. Wonder if they are still joined in life today?
June 28
November 3
Spotted today on the prickly pear cactus on Trustees Road. Here's how they looked in the spring (June 29)
