St. Andrews Road Sign Installed By Highway Superintendent Mysteriously Removed

A road sign erected by Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Alex Gregor at an intersection at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was mysteriously taken down last week — and nobody is saying who was responsible for its removal.

In July, officials at the private golf club demanded that the sign, located at the intersection of Tuckahoe Road and St. Andrews Road, be taken down because it was illegally installed by Mr. Gregor.

Anthony C. Pasca, an attorney with Esseks, Hefter, Angel Di Talia and Pasca LLP, sent a letter to Town Board members on June 11 on behalf of the club, demanding the removal of the street sign, and an investigation into its installation.

Mr. Gregor, who installed the street sign on December 31, did so without permission from the Town Board or the golf club. In his paperwork, he marked the sign as a replacement for one taken down when the U.S. Open took place at the club in 2018 — though the club said that was not true.

St. Andrews Road has been blocked off for years and is recognized by the club as a private road. Mr. Gregor, on the other hand, has maintained that the road had never been turned over to the club in a deal that took place in the 1930s. Prior to the deal, St. Andrews Road meandered and cut through the golf course.

When Suffolk County wanted to build County Road 39, it needed to cut through the southern portion of the golf course, so the town, the county and the club made a land swap, which gave a portion of St. Andrews Road that cut through the course to the club.

A title company researched the matter, looking over old county maps and reading over old resolutions, and determined recently that the property belongs to the club, not the town.

Town Attorney James Burke said on Monday that he had corresponded with Mr. Gregor over the removal of the sign. Mr. Burke also said he understands Mr. Gregor’s position: According to the map, Mr. Burke said, the western portion of St. Andrews came off the tax rolls, but the eastern portion, where Mr. Gregor installed the sign, remained on the tax rolls, suggesting it was privately owned.

Mr. Burke also said that when the county came in to construct County Road 39, it could have taken the land through eminent domain, but it appears that it worked with the town and the club to do the land swap.

But when it came to who removed the sign last week, Mr. Burke came up short, saying he was not sure — and he was trying to figure it out himself.

Multiple calls to Mr. Gregor this week asking whether he or his crews removed the sign were not returned. Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman declined to comment on the matter.

Mr. Gregor has maintained that the road is a town-owned road on paper, and three years ago, he set his sights on opening it back up to the public to be able to get onto County Road 39 at the light where Tuckahoe Road intersects it.

Prior to making it one of his missions, the club attempted to make Tuckahoe Road a private street, closed off to all traffic, and to have the town sign it over to the club in exchange for other considerations. But the club was unsuccessful in convincing town officials.

There are echoes of an earlier incident in this latest controversy.

In 2013, Mr. Gregor installed a road sign at the corner of Rose Hill Road and Montauk Highway, dubbing the street “Sister Jackie’s Way,” to commemorate the life of Sister Jacqueline Walsh, a Catholic nun who was struck and killed by a car on Rose Hill Road in 2012. The driver fled the scene and was never brought to justice.

Mr. Gregor never obtained permission from the Town Board to put that sign up, either, and maintained that he never needed permission, since he was not officially renaming the street. Instead of being a standard green sign, the “Sister Jackie’s Way” sign was blue.

Some members of the community wanted the sign to remain, although the church requested that it be taken down because some other residents did not want to be reminded of the incident.

Although Mr. Gregor held his ground and refused to take the sign down, the Town Board ordered that the Parks Department have the sign removed.