Martha Faces Arrest?

There was another development this week in the long-running dispute between Martha Stewart and Harry Macklowe, high-profile neighbors on Georgica Close Road in East Hampton. A landscaper working for Mr. Macklowe, a New York City developer, has complained to East Hampton Village police that Ms. Stewart backed her car into him on the night of May 21, pinning him against a gate.

Ms. Stewart, the homemaking authority and television personality, had not been charged with any crime as of press time. Village Police Chief Glen Stonemetz said, however, that an investigation was continuing and indicated that Ms. Stewart would be arrested sometime next week.

She is expected to be charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing, said the chief. In a "worst-case" scenario, he said, a charge of assault could be lodged.

Bruised On The Hip

Police learned of the incident just after noon last Thursday in a telephone call from Michael Walsh, Mr. Macklowe's Water Mill attorney. Chief Stonemetz would not release the name of the landscaper who later filed the complaint, though Newsday has identified him as Matthew Munnich, an employee of Whitmore Worsley in Amagansett. Mr. Munnich could not be reached by phone.

The chief said the complainant was bruised on the hip in the alleged incident, but did not go to the hospital. Mr. Stonemetz said there was "a whole list of complaints that we're investigating."

Police have refused to release the complaint, citing the ongoing investigation.

Unintentional

According to published reports, which Chief Stonemetz would neither confirm nor deny, on the night of May 21 Ms. Stewart drove into the driveway of Mr. Macklowe's property, where landscapers were said to be erecting a fence.

Words were apparently exchanged, and then, the complaint alleges, in backing up her vehicle Ms. Stewart hit the landscaper, pinning him against the control box of a gate.

The act appeared to be "reckless" and not intentional, Chief Stonemetz said.

Any charges filed against Ms. Stewart, he added, will depend in part on the County District Attorney's review of the complaint.

Village police have completed their own review, said the chief, and have sent the information to the District Attorney's East End Bureau.

Asked if an arrest was likely, the chief responded, "Yeah."

Ms. Stewart reportedly spent the Memorial Day weekend at her house in Westport, Conn.

Calls to Mr. Walsh, Mr. Macklowe, and Leonard Ackerman, Ms. Stewart's East Hampton attorney, went unreturned by press time. Susan Magrino, her Manhattan publicist, referred calls to a Manhattan attorney, Larry Shire, who said, "Any implication that Martha Stewart did anything unlawful is patently ridiculous." He would not comment on the complaint, but said he did not believe "it will get to that point" - meaning an arrest.

Acrimonious History

The two Georgica Pond neighbors have been wrestling over plantings along their common border for more than a year and a half, and are currently embroiled in lawsuits.

Mr. Macklowe sued Ms. Stewart as well as the Village Zoning Board of Appeals after the board gave her permission to remove plantings and lighting fixtures and their associated wiring, which she claimed Mr. Macklowe had installed illegally.

Some but not all of the trees and shrubs were removed within minutes of the Zoning Board's decision, before Ms. Stewart was notified that Mr. Macklowe had won an injunction barring her from proceeding.

The plantings must remain in place while Mr. Macklowe's lawsuits are pending, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court decreed in the injunction.

Disputed Plantings

Mr. Macklowe, whose property is held in the corporate name of KAM Hampton I Realty, was cited by the village for allegedly installing the plantings and lighting without a wetlands permit. A trial before Justice Roger Walker on those charges is scheduled in East Hampton Town Justice Court for July 8.

Ms. Stewart's house, one of two that she owns in the village, was designed by the late architect Gordon Bunshaft for himself and his wife. She bought it in 1995 for $3.2 million under the name of the Travertine Corporation. Her other house is on Lily Pond Lane.

Ms. Stewart and Mr. Macklowe have also disputed just which of them owns the piece of land where the controversial plantings and lighting were placed. She has alleged some of them were located within a scenic easement, where such work is prohibited.

Challenge Rebuffed

Earlier this year Mr. Macklowe appealed the certificate of occupancy issued to Ms. Stewart, claiming that a 726-square-foot studio improperly contained a kitchen, full bathroom, and various partitions.

In April, however, the Zoning Board of Appeals denied his request to revoke the C.O., saying it was untimely and should have been filed within 60 days after the February 1995 certificate was issued.

The board also noted that the issue was raised in Mr. Macklowe's lawsuit in State Supreme Court.