Gregor Says He Will Remove 'Sister Jackie's Way' Sign From Water Mill Street

Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Alex Gregor said Wednesday that he will remove an honorary street sign from Rose Hill Road in Water Mill commemorating the Catholic nun who was killed there in 2012 in a fatal hit-and-run accident.

Mr. Gregor, who had paid for and installed the sign himself, designating the road as “Sister Jackie’s Way,” said he has agreed to take it down after the nuns who live at the Sisters of Mercy Convent on the road asked him to remove it to quell the controversy that has swirled around it in recent weeks.

“The sisters are upset about the controversy and asked me to please take down the sign,” Mr. Gregor said Wednesday. “They feel that they are not welcomed by the other residents of the street anymore and they don’t like the attention. I never meant for this to be the big hoopla it’s turned into.”

Sister Jacquelin Walsh was killed in August 2012 after being struck by an SUV that fled the scene; she had been on retreat at the Sisters of Mercy Convent at the time. Police later determined that the vehicle was owned by Rose Hill Road resident Andrew Zaro and that one of his employees, Carlos Armando Ixpec-Chitay, had been driving it at the time of the accident.

But by the time authorities came in search of the Guatemala native, he had already fled the country. His brother was later convicted for aiding in his escape and served four months in jail.

Mr. Gregor installed the sign last year, without any legislative dedication or approval. He still contends that he did not need approval since the sign was merely memorial in nature and did not officially change the name of the road, which can be done only with Town Board approval.

But after a resident complained in a letter to Town Board members that the sign was an unwelcome reminder for residents of the tragedy that happened on their street, Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst’s office sent out a survey to other homeowners on the block asking their opinion of the sign. When the majority of those who responded—about half of the total number on the street—said they preferred that it be removed, the supervisor’s office asked members of the town’s Parks Department to remove the sign. But when Mr. Gregor learned of its removal, he retrieved the sign and returned it to its original perch atop the regular street sign at the intersection of Rose Hill and Montauk Highway.

Ms. Throne-Holst said last week that the Town Board was hoping to reason with Mr. Gregor to take the sign down but, if they couldn’t, they would instruct parks employees to remove it again. She said the board was of the opinion that Mr. Gregor did not have the authority to act unilaterally to put up the sign without board approval, regardless of its unofficial nature.

The dustup drew more complaints from neighbors, and a rush of attention from New York City media outlets.

“I never meant for this to be the big hoopla it’s turned out to be,” Mr. Gregor said. “I will take down the sign if it’s so important to these people. I put it up, I have no problem putting it in my office and when people ask me about it, I can tell them the tale.”

Still, Mr. Gregor thinks that most people in the community were supportive of his memorial to Sister Jackie, as she was known, and that the disproportionate influence of a few wealthy residents on the Town Board is what drove the campaign to have it removed.

“Not all people are created equal ... or maybe some are more equal than others,” he said. “It’s very disappointing.”