Shinnecock Buck Court Order to Shutter Electronic Billboards

Shinnecock Nation leaders are disregarding a judge’s order to turn off a pair of electronic billboards on either side of Route 27 that have been the subject of years-long litigation between the tribe and New York State.

Judge Maureen Licccione ruled on Nov. 24 that the billboards that feature a gallery of digital advertising on the side of the road as drivers enter the Hamptons “shall immediately cease operations.”

The judge ruled that the Shinnecock was not in contempt of court, but two advertising companies that operate the billboards were — and ordered them to pay $250 plus attorney fees to the state Department of Transportation that sued to block the signs.

Lisa Goree, who chairs the Shinnecock Nation Council of Trustees, was widely quoted as saying that the tribe has no intention of turning the billboards off. The tribe built the billboards in 2019 and uses the ad revenue to support community programming for members on its Southampton territory.

The DOT has argued that the Shinnecock did not have the necessary approvals legally required to build the billboards on the land because it was on a state-owned right-of-way running along Route 27.

Shinnecock leaders argue that they were exempt from such approvals because the federally recognized tribe owns the land on either side of the road.