Doxside gets first payment from Glen Cove

Life is black and white to John Doxey.

He relinquished his waterfront scrap yard earlier this month -- per federal court order -- to Glen Cove, which condemned the site five years ago. The order stated $250,000 of the funds the city designated for his compensation be immediately released.

To Doxey, that meant having a check the day officials barred him from Doxside Industries.

"All I know is that they locked my gates, put me out of business, and I still . . . [hadn't] gotten paid," he said yesterday, referring to the three-week delay in receiving the check he finally picked up Wednesday. "Why [was] that missing?"

Typical legal machinations, which Doxey dismisses, were to blame for the delay, his attorney said. The order told the city to work with Nassau County's treasurer, which held the total $1.3-million payment, to immediately transfer $700,000 to a U.S. District Court clerk in Central Islip.

Instead of occurring March 3, that didn't take place until March 9. Then, the order directed the clerk to issue $250,000 of the $700,000 not to Doxey directly but to his attorney, Bruce Levinson.

The money, which Levinson received March 14, then had to clear his trust account. He said that happened earlier this week.

"It's understandable that he's very emotional," Levinson said. "This is his life."

The 1-acre property where Doxside operated is the last piece of a 52-acre site planned for waterfront condos, shops, offices and parks. The city says it's now focused on starting the site's $2-million environmental cleanup, delayed by the years of Doxey's fight with the city over its seizure of his land through eminent domain.

"He finally ran out of legal options," said Michael Zarin, an attorney for Glen Cove.

If Doxey satisfies the vacate order, he'll receive the rest of the $700,000 now in federal court. He now has seven hours of supervised access, through mid-April, to clear the site. The balance of the $1.3 million will be held by Nassau County pending the city's environmental inspection -- Doxey and the city disagree over blame for potential site pollution.

Meanwhile, Levinson continues local court proceedings challenging Glen Cove's $1.3-million compensation payment. He says the property and its fixtures are worth closer to $11 million.

At this week's city council meeting, where the dispute with Doxey again came up, a frequent city critic noted his protest of the U.S. Supreme Court-upheld right of municipalities to seize private property for economic development.

"There are such things as unjust laws," said Pasquale Cervasio.