The mess at 167 Araca Road: How a man's dream home quest sparked litigation, corruption claims and made Babylon go viral
It’s not the bare wooden beams or naked concrete columns that initially command attention as the unfinished house at the end of Araca Road comes into view. It's signs including "ABUSE OF POWER" and “BABYLON BRIBE DEPT" posted near a blown-up photo of Babylon Village's mayor that grab the eye.
What was meant to be a dream house overlooking the Great South Bay instead has become the center of a battle between homeowner Austin Kitt, village officials and a contractor.
The controversy has led to litigation, corruption allegations and a social media blitz that prompted the mayor to add extra security at Babylon Village Hall after a wave of vulgar emails and phone calls — including threats on her life.
Kitt is suing the village for $350,000 for letting construction continue after multiple village inspections, despite what he claims were structural defects and a mold infestation. He said the house is too unstable to occupy and has pitched a tent for himself and his dog to stay in next to the unfinished structure.
The contractor, Joseph Pinola, is suing Kitt for up to $50 million, claiming Kitt owes him more than $240,600 for work and materials and that the homeowner is defaming him and hurting his business with social media attacks.
Kitt, 40, said he feels his viral posts are his only recourse. He has filed a counter claim charging “negligent, shoddy, defective” construction. Kitt, a PSEG Long Island lineman, said repairing and finishing the home will cost more than $300,000 and he is out of money.
“I put every single thing I have into this house,” Kitt said of his life savings. “I’m not some rich kid. I’m a working man … And now I’m down to nothing.”
Kitt bought the Superstorm Sandy-damaged home for $450,000 in February 2020. He contracted with Pinola’s T Rex Construction LLC, which does business as St. James-based BRJ Contracting, to build a second story for $329,600.
Work began in September 2020, but the structure was unstable and had to be demolished, requiring a full rebuild. Delays kept happening during the next year and a half, which the contractor blamed on COVID-19 pandemic supply chain issues, Kitt said.
Kitt alleges the roughly 2,400 square-foot house wasn’t properly wrapped from the elements, allowing moisture inside. During this period, Kitt said he also unexpectedly lost his mother.
“My head was all over the place. I was not thinking straight,” he said. "This guy [Pinola] was running the show, so I just trusted him.”
By last spring, Kitt saw signs of mold before an expert recommended a remediation of the entire house “due to the severity of the mold found.”
Kitt fired Pinola after paying him more than $365,000, according to his counter claim. He then hired Garden City engineering firm EBI, which found: The main support girder on the first floor had twisted; exposed rebar in concrete columns was causing rust and decay; an unsupported wood column was causing distress; and elements, including roof shingles, were “installed with less than acceptable workmanship.”
Kitt began to question why the village allowed construction to continue. Village building inspector Stephen Fellman performed five inspections.
In October, Kitt — whose insurance claims were rejected — filed a notice of claim that he intended to sue the village for $350,000 for “negligent inspections.”
Kitt's attorney, Karen Svendsen of Bay Shore, said Friday her client's experience "should serve as a warning to all homeowners."
Through village officials, Fellman declined to comment.
In October, Pinola sued Kitt.
Pinola’s suit alleges the delays were because Kitt continually made changes to windows, doors and other elements, adding $428,600 in costs — of which Pinola says he collected $188,000, according to the lawsuit. It’s unclear if that amount includes any money from a construction loan Kitt obtained.
Michael Romano, Pinola’s Garden City attorney, refuted Kitt’s claims about defective structural workmanship. He said a temporary support was put in because Pinola never received updated architectural drawings.
“The bottom line is my client is a contractor. He follows the filed architectural plans,” Romano said. “If something was missed or is incorrect on those plans, that’s on the architect and I guess on the inspector maybe for not noticing something.”
Pinola declined to comment to Newsday.
T Rex foreman Robert Romano, who isn’t related to Pinola’s attorney, said that after the existing structure was demolished, Kitt’s architect drew up new plans. Those plans from Massapequa Park architect Sean Bird show an “existing” structural support for the main girder, but that support had been demolished and a new support wasn’t redrawn, according to the foreman.
“I can’t, as a builder, put it in. I need an architect to draw that in,” Robert Romano added.
The foreman said Kitt was told “numerous times” new plans were needed, but they never were provided.
Bird said he couldn’t comment because of the pending litigation.
Kitt wanted numerous other changes to the original plans, according to Robert Romano, including an attached garage. That caused an 11-month delay, Romano said.
The foreman conceded that some house areas weren’t wrapped against the elements because Kitt wanted modifications, including special-order siding that took six months to arrive.
“You live on the Great South Bay … every week a storm is coming in and it’s ripping the paper off the house,” Romano said.
The foreman also said he observed a contentious relationship between Kitt and the village throughout construction.
“Everything they said, if it was black, he said it was white,” Romano said.
In December, with the village decked in holiday lights, Mayor Mary Adams found herself on the end of unseasonable greetings.
“Sixteen million of us know your names, what you look like and where you live,” warned an email to Adams and the board of trustees.
Someone else threatened that if Fellman wasn’t fired, he would show up to the boardroom with a shotgun.
Other voice messages, emails and texts aimed insults at Adams, including remarks that email addresses showed came from as far away as Canada and the United Kingdom.
At least three of Kitt’s TikTok videos have gotten millions of views, including one that eclipsed 5 million.
The posts include Kitt excoriating Pinola and village officials — parties he has accused of colluding, which they deny — and recordings from Kitt’s visits to village hall where he and supporters confront trustees.
Kitt has publicly shared Adams’ office number, cell number and email, encouraging his social media followers to contact her. Adams said at one point she was receiving up to 100 such calls a day.
Threats prompted police involvement, along with more security measures at village hall, according to the mayor. A police spokeswoman confirmed First Precinct crime section officers are aware of the threats and have been in contact with village staff.
Adams also said she discovered someone watching her outside her residence and had to have police escort her home from one of several heated board meetings.
The mayor said she met with Kitt early on and tried to give him advice about how to rectify the situation.
“It was more about the money. He didn’t want to hear anything else,” Adams recalled. “I said, ‘You’re not getting one dime of taxpayer money.’”
Adams said Kitt told her he felt the house was in danger of collapsing and she scheduled an outside engineer to inspect the house, but Kitt canceled. He told Newsday that was because he didn’t trust the village.
“We’re not stopping him from building,” Adams said. “He can still go forward right now . . . whether he chooses to or not is a different story.”
Village records Newsday obtained under the Freedom of Information Law show two stop-work orders at 167 Araca Rd., since lifted, and several citations to Kitt for living in a trailer there and constructing an illegal retaining wall.
There were no inspection reports connected to the property, only a list indicating there had been four inspections on the house and one on the garage.
Village attorney Matthew McDonough said Fellman, who works part time, doesn’t do reports after inspections, but homeowners get letters if action is needed.
In contrast, officials in nearby villages Amityville and Lindenhurst said each inspection prompts a report.
Records show Babylon only sent one inspection-related letter to Kitt. It requested a copy of plans for the full rebuild.
McDonough said Kitt’s home was only at the beginning of the inspection process and at least six more inspections would have been required if construction had continued.
A building inspector’s role is to “inspect for specific items” and “to enforce the code,” the village attorney said.
McDonough added that a passed inspection means an inspector is satisfied and “not that they are officially certifying that all the work has been done correctly.”
Village board meetings often are standing-room-only these days as Kitt and his supporters carry banners demanding “Justice for 167 Araca Road” and call for Adams’ resignation and Fellman’s firing.
Kitt said he won’t give up on his social media campaign or his house.
“I’ve been telling the truth and I want justice,” he said.
It’s not the bare wooden beams or naked concrete columns that initially command attention as the unfinished house at the end of Araca Road comes into view. It's signs including "ABUSE OF POWER" and “BABYLON BRIBE DEPT" posted near a blown-up photo of Babylon Village's mayor that grab the eye.
What was meant to be a dream house overlooking the Great South Bay instead has become the center of a battle between homeowner Austin Kitt, village officials and a contractor.
The controversy has led to litigation, corruption allegations and a social media blitz that prompted the mayor to add extra security at Babylon Village Hall after a wave of vulgar emails and phone calls — including threats on her life.
Kitt is suing the village for $350,000 for letting construction continue after multiple village inspections, despite what he claims were structural defects and a mold infestation. He said the house is too unstable to occupy and has pitched a tent for himself and his dog to stay in next to the unfinished structure.
The contractor, Joseph Pinola, is suing Kitt for up to $50 million, claiming Kitt owes him more than $240,600 for work and materials and that the homeowner is defaming him and hurting his business with social media attacks.
Kitt, 40, said he feels his viral posts are his only recourse. He has filed a counter claim charging “negligent, shoddy, defective” construction. Kitt, a PSEG Long Island lineman, said repairing and finishing the home will cost more than $300,000 and he is out of money.
“I put every single thing I have into this house,” Kitt said of his life savings. “I’m not some rich kid. I’m a working man … And now I’m down to nothing.”
'Less than acceptable workmanship'
Kitt bought the Superstorm Sandy-damaged home for $450,000 in February 2020. He contracted with Pinola’s T Rex Construction LLC, which does business as St. James-based BRJ Contracting, to build a second story for $329,600.
Work began in September 2020, but the structure was unstable and had to be demolished, requiring a full rebuild. Delays kept happening during the next year and a half, which the contractor blamed on COVID-19 pandemic supply chain issues, Kitt said.
Kitt alleges the roughly 2,400 square-foot house wasn’t properly wrapped from the elements, allowing moisture inside. During this period, Kitt said he also unexpectedly lost his mother.
“My head was all over the place. I was not thinking straight,” he said. "This guy [Pinola] was running the show, so I just trusted him.”
By last spring, Kitt saw signs of mold before an expert recommended a remediation of the entire house “due to the severity of the mold found.”
Kitt fired Pinola after paying him more than $365,000, according to his counter claim. He then hired Garden City engineering firm EBI, which found: The main support girder on the first floor had twisted; exposed rebar in concrete columns was causing rust and decay; an unsupported wood column was causing distress; and elements, including roof shingles, were “installed with less than acceptable workmanship.”
Kitt began to question why the village allowed construction to continue. Village building inspector Stephen Fellman performed five inspections.
In October, Kitt — whose insurance claims were rejected — filed a notice of claim that he intended to sue the village for $350,000 for “negligent inspections.”
Kitt's attorney, Karen Svendsen of Bay Shore, said Friday her client's experience "should serve as a warning to all homeowners."
Through village officials, Fellman declined to comment.
In October, Pinola sued Kitt.
'Every week a storm is coming in'
Pinola’s suit alleges the delays were because Kitt continually made changes to windows, doors and other elements, adding $428,600 in costs — of which Pinola says he collected $188,000, according to the lawsuit. It’s unclear if that amount includes any money from a construction loan Kitt obtained.
Michael Romano, Pinola’s Garden City attorney, refuted Kitt’s claims about defective structural workmanship. He said a temporary support was put in because Pinola never received updated architectural drawings.
“The bottom line is my client is a contractor. He follows the filed architectural plans,” Romano said. “If something was missed or is incorrect on those plans, that’s on the architect and I guess on the inspector maybe for not noticing something.”
Pinola declined to comment to Newsday.
T Rex foreman Robert Romano, who isn’t related to Pinola’s attorney, said that after the existing structure was demolished, Kitt’s architect drew up new plans. Those plans from Massapequa Park architect Sean Bird show an “existing” structural support for the main girder, but that support had been demolished and a new support wasn’t redrawn, according to the foreman.
“I can’t, as a builder, put it in. I need an architect to draw that in,” Robert Romano added.
The foreman said Kitt was told “numerous times” new plans were needed, but they never were provided.
Bird said he couldn’t comment because of the pending litigation.
Kitt wanted numerous other changes to the original plans, according to Robert Romano, including an attached garage. That caused an 11-month delay, Romano said.
The foreman conceded that some house areas weren’t wrapped against the elements because Kitt wanted modifications, including special-order siding that took six months to arrive.
“You live on the Great South Bay … every week a storm is coming in and it’s ripping the paper off the house,” Romano said.
The foreman also said he observed a contentious relationship between Kitt and the village throughout construction.
“Everything they said, if it was black, he said it was white,” Romano said.
'Not getting one dime of taxpayer money'
In December, with the village decked in holiday lights, Mayor Mary Adams found herself on the end of unseasonable greetings.
“Sixteen million of us know your names, what you look like and where you live,” warned an email to Adams and the board of trustees.
Someone else threatened that if Fellman wasn’t fired, he would show up to the boardroom with a shotgun.
Other voice messages, emails and texts aimed insults at Adams, including remarks that email addresses showed came from as far away as Canada and the United Kingdom.
At least three of Kitt’s TikTok videos have gotten millions of views, including one that eclipsed 5 million.
The posts include Kitt excoriating Pinola and village officials — parties he has accused of colluding, which they deny — and recordings from Kitt’s visits to village hall where he and supporters confront trustees.
Kitt has publicly shared Adams’ office number, cell number and email, encouraging his social media followers to contact her. Adams said at one point she was receiving up to 100 such calls a day.
Threats prompted police involvement, along with more security measures at village hall, according to the mayor. A police spokeswoman confirmed First Precinct crime section officers are aware of the threats and have been in contact with village staff.
Adams also said she discovered someone watching her outside her residence and had to have police escort her home from one of several heated board meetings.
The mayor said she met with Kitt early on and tried to give him advice about how to rectify the situation.
“It was more about the money. He didn’t want to hear anything else,” Adams recalled. “I said, ‘You’re not getting one dime of taxpayer money.’”
Adams said Kitt told her he felt the house was in danger of collapsing and she scheduled an outside engineer to inspect the house, but Kitt canceled. He told Newsday that was because he didn’t trust the village.
“We’re not stopping him from building,” Adams said. “He can still go forward right now . . . whether he chooses to or not is a different story.”
'Justice for 167 Araca Road'
Village records Newsday obtained under the Freedom of Information Law show two stop-work orders at 167 Araca Rd., since lifted, and several citations to Kitt for living in a trailer there and constructing an illegal retaining wall.
There were no inspection reports connected to the property, only a list indicating there had been four inspections on the house and one on the garage.
Village attorney Matthew McDonough said Fellman, who works part time, doesn’t do reports after inspections, but homeowners get letters if action is needed.
In contrast, officials in nearby villages Amityville and Lindenhurst said each inspection prompts a report.
Records show Babylon only sent one inspection-related letter to Kitt. It requested a copy of plans for the full rebuild.
McDonough said Kitt’s home was only at the beginning of the inspection process and at least six more inspections would have been required if construction had continued.
A building inspector’s role is to “inspect for specific items” and “to enforce the code,” the village attorney said.
McDonough added that a passed inspection means an inspector is satisfied and “not that they are officially certifying that all the work has been done correctly.”
Village board meetings often are standing-room-only these days as Kitt and his supporters carry banners demanding “Justice for 167 Araca Road” and call for Adams’ resignation and Fellman’s firing.
Kitt said he won’t give up on his social media campaign or his house.
“I’ve been telling the truth and I want justice,” he said.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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