Year in Review: Fishers Island Ferry District files suit against Southold Town
The Fishers Island Ferry District filed a $2 million lawsuit against the Town of Southold, Southold Town Board and Southold Police Department on May 29, alleging the town wrongfully and forcibly entered Ferry District-owned 357 Whistler Ave., with crowbars and has been trespassing there since Jan. 1, 2025.
The complaint alleged that the town did not submit a request for Municipal Home Rule, receive necessary state legislative authority or hold a public hearing to revoke the Ferry District’s rental permit to take valid action seizing the property.
In a July 16 letter to the Suffolk County Supreme Court, Southold Town Police Chief Steven Grattan said the allegations that police cut the locks off and ejected people and property from 357 Whistler Ave. were “blatantly false.” He said that it was a “vacant, unoccupied, town-owned property.”
The judge overseeing the case ultimately favored Southold Town in the suit.
