STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A state Supreme Court judge this week ordered Borough President James Oddo to issue the house numbers for the townhouses at the former Mount Manresa site.
The decision comes after the Savo Brothers, the developers under the name Mount Builders LLC, filed a suit in September asking the court to force Oddo to issue the numbers so they can complete the embattled construction project. The Department of Buildings won't grant permits for the construction until the numbers have been assigned.
There is no deadline for when Oddo needs to issue the numbers, but he says he will do so soon.
"As a result of the court order, I have no choice but to, and I am compelled to issue the numbers, which I will do at some point in the near future. This will not end our vigilant oversight of this wretched project," Oddo said in a statement to the Advance. "I am saddened because, once again, the 'right thing' is not happening for this land, our community, and the Staten Islanders who have fought the good fight against this project."
Earlier this week, the judge also ruled against a motion to intervene filed by the Committee to Save Mount Manresa. The group had asked the court to withhold making any decisions until any and all criminal investigations were completed.
"I read the papers submitted by the Committee to Save Mt. Manresa and they made a compelling argument, which was unfortunately not accepted by the Court," Oddo said in the statement. "Due to the cloud of impropriety and criminality that surrounded and continues to surround this project, I had refused to issue the house numbers the developers need to receive building permits. The asbestos inspectors hired by the Savo Brothers have already been indicted, and there are possibly further investigations taking place by law enforcement officials about this project."
Oddo had publicly said he will block the construction until every pending probe has concluded, after a grand jury handed down a 36-count criminal indictment against a father-son engineer team on charges they lied in reports to the city that the Fort Wadsworth site was free of asbestos.
Gaspare Santoro, 75, and his son Paul, 36, were hired by the Savo Brothers -- the development firm behind the plan to build 250 townhouses on the site of the former Jesuit retreat house -- to do asbestos testing.
The elder Santoro also filed similar false reports for six other properties across Staten Island, while his son did the same for a seventh property, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors initially filed criminal charges against the duo in December, alleging that in April 2014, Paul Santoro filed NYC Department of Environmental Protection forms with the borough's Department of Buildings declaring the Founders Building, Care Taker's House and Bruno Building were asbestos free.
Gaspare Santoro signed off on the forms, and demolition began at the site. Asbestos was found at one of the buildings a few days later.
The Savo Brothers, however, claimed in the suit that they had no relationship or connection with the Santoros, and that the DOB has signed off on asbestos abatement and the demolition of the development site.
"I still believe as the elected official responsible for issuing house numbers pursuant to the City Charter and the Administrative Code that under these unique circumstances I should be permitted to use my discretion and delay issuing them until the conclusion of all criminal and civil investigations into the matter," Oddo said. "Unfortunately, the court disagreed with this view and deemed the issuance of house numbers a 'non-discretionary' act on my part so long as all the appropriate paperwork has been submitted by the applicant."