In a fight over whether an eruv can be established in the Hamptons, a judge has ruled that franchise agreements stretching back to 1910 do not restrain Verizon and the Long Island Power Authority from attaching strips of wood or plastic to utility poles, creating symbolic boundaries for certain members of the Jewish faith.
“There is nothing in the franchises which expressly limits the utilities’ power to attach [the strips] or other items to their utility poles, or to ‘sublicense’ rights to their poles for any purpose,” Eastern District Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson (See Profile) ruled Monday in Verizon New York v. Village of Westhampton Beach, 11-cv-252. She added that provisions of certain state laws also adequately empowered the utilities to enter contracts for utility pole usage unrelated to electric and telephone services.
