A memorial service for Thomas Ferreira, a Montauk mechanic who died in September, happens on Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. at Edward Vincent Ecker Sr. County Park in Montauk. In 2016, East Hampton Town settled a civil rights lawsuit Mr. Ferreira had brought after the town hired contractors to seize vehicles and equipment from his property on Fort Pond Bay.
“Montauk lost one of its legends,” begins a GoFundMe campaign to “ease the burden on the family during this hard time and to cover the costs associated with the memorial service.”
Mr. Ferreira is survived by a daughter, a grandson, and two brothers. The gathering is open to all, and those attending will share photos and memories of the mechanic, who operated his Automotive Solutions repair business at his Navy Road residence. As of Tuesday, the GoFundMe campaign had raised $2,920.
He held New York State and town licenses to operate the business on his property, in an area where zoning was upgraded from commercial-industrial to residential in 1983. Neighbors had long complained that the various vehicles and assorted debris strewn about the property were unsightly and represented a safety hazard. With the rezoning potentially prohibiting the continued operation of his business, he successfully sued the town. A town building inspector later ruled that Automotive Solutions was a pre-existing, nonconforming use.
In 2009, however, the town board authorized the seizure of vehicles and other items from the property, citing public health and safety. Code Enforcement officers had asserted that the debris and combustible materials could ignite.
Mr. Ferreira filed a $55 million civil rights action against the town. Seven years after the seizure, the board settled the lawsuit, brought with help from two attorneys, Lawrence Kelly and Thomas Horn. The board’s unanimous May 2016 vote authorized the town attorney’s office to pay him $150,000 and half of a $20,000 lien imposed on the property, the cost of the seizures.
Mr. Ferreira’s life inspired a filmmaker, Ari Selinger of New York City and Sag Harbor, to write a screenplay about the mechanic. “On the End,” which Mr. Selinger just completed, was filmed in part on Fort Pond Bay and stars Tim Blake Nelson, Anna Chlumsky, Mireille Enos, Lois Smith, and James Badge Dale.