Controversial Manorhaven cell tower to be activated

The company that resumed construction of a controversial cellphone tower in Manorhaven on Tuesday intends to activate it within weeks, said an attorney for the company, AG Towers.

The village of Manorhaven, citing community concerns that it is too close to homes, asked Suffolk-based AG Towers last week to find a different location.

But attorney William Wexler, of North Babylon, said, “We put the tower where they told us to,” referring to village officials. “It’s not just a question of moving it — it’s the cost of taking it down, the cost of rebuilding it.”

In response, Giovanna Giunta, a resident who helped organize a protest this month against the tower, said, “This is very discouraging and very upsetting.”

In September 2007, Manorhaven approved a 125-foot wireless service communications tower on village property at Pequot Avenue and Sintsink Drive West. But amid litigation, a stop-work order issued in 2009 prevented the company from finishing the project.

In February 2011, AG Towers sued the village in federal court and prevailed when a U.S. District Court judge in September ordered the village to allow the work to proceed.

Above: Residents Joe Giunta and Barbara Mallon, both with Stop the Cell Tower, watch as work is resumed on the cell phone tower on Pequot Avenue in Manorhaven even though many of the residents do not want it next to their houses. (March 27, 2012)