STATEN ISLAND — The developers of the controversial Mount Manresa condo project intend to file an appeal against a judge's decision to allow the development's streets to be named after greed, trickery and deceit.
The lawyer for the Savo Brothers, Richard Leland, filed a notice of appeal last week over Judge Philip Minardo's decision to allow Borough President James Oddo's creative street names for the new condos on the former Jesuit retreat house.
Leland did not want to comment for this story or say when the full appeal in the state court would be filed.
"We believe the court decided the case correctly," a spokesman for the city's Law Department said in a statement.
Oddo did not want to comment on the case.
As mind numbing as this is, it appears the Mt. Manresa "street name" litigation is not yet over... pic.twitter.com/mrvcR7Pr62
— Jimmy Oddo (@HeyNowJO) April 15, 2016
In December, the developers — under the name Mount Builders LLC — sued Oddo after he took to the dictionary for revenge over the project and chose Cupidity Drive, using a word meaning inordinate desire for wealth; Fourberie Lane, defined as trickery and deception: and Avidity Place, which is derived from avidita, meaning greed, for the new streets.
READ MORE: Mt. Manresa Developers Paid $65K to Former Boro President Molinaro's Firm
Minardo eventually ruled in February that Oddo — whose office is responsible for assigning new street numbers and names in private developments — was within his rights to keep the names.
"Whatever the goal [for the names] may have been, this court cannot change it," Minardo wrote in his decision.
"There is no apparent legislative authority or legal precedent which delineates the precise manner in which the Borough President assumed this power to name, nor as to how street names are chosen, although this court notes that the power appears to rest with the Office of the Borough President.
"Therefore, it is within Borough President James Oddo's discretion to decide if the street names of the residents of the Borough of Staten Island should reflect greed, a Lazy Bird, or a fallen hero."
Oddo initially tried to delay issuing street numbers to the project until after an investigation into the construction was complete. The inquiry began after two former asbestos inspectors for the project were accused of lying about the presence of asbestos in the buildings.
The judge eventually forced Oddo to issue the numbers, and the developers offered a list of street names that included "Timber Lane," which Oddo wrote on Facebook was a direct snub to neighbors outraged about the felled 400-year-old trees on the property.
The city also argued the other names pitched were too similar to others that already exist in the borough and could cause confusion for emergency responders.
