Following ongoing litigation over the attempted privatization of an East Hampton airport, Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Paul Baisley Jr. ruled that the town had violated a temporary restraining order he had issued last year which barred new restrictions or any steps toward closing East Hampton Town Airport.
Additionally, the town of East Hampton must pay a $250,000 fine as well as a $1,000 daily fine from the date of the order until it complies with the TRO.
Blade Air Mobility, East End Hangars, in which Pillsbury advised, and the Coalition to Keep East Hampton Airport Open petitioned a town plan to briefly close East Hampton Airport and re-open it with reduced traffic—resulting in the issuing of the TRO in May 2022.
Pleased with the "fair and measured" decision, Litigation partner James Catterson said, "The Court has ordered that the Town cannot use airport revenue to finance its ongoing contempt of the Court's order. Taxpayers of East Hampton should not have to continue to pay for the Town's misguided belief that it is somehow above the law."
"Actions have consequences and we are hopeful that the town will immediately cease its new use restrictions and comply with the Court's order," Catterson concluded in a statement made on May 22.
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