Nicolello joins effort to preserve Inisfada retreat

Bill San Antonio

Nassau County Legislator Rich Nicolello has joined the local politicians, civic associations and other organizations working to save the St. Ignatius Retreat House.

In a recent letter to state Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey, Nicolello calls for the preservation of the 33-acre Gold Coast-era estate of wealthy industrialist Nicholas Brady and his wife Genevieve, saying the retreat house is “not just a magnificent structure worthy of preservation because of its astounding architectural beauty, but it has also been a spiritual heart of the Long Island community for decades.”

“If we don’t maintain properties such as the St. Ignatius Retreat House now, and recognize their importance with designations such as listing on the State and National Registers, they will not be here for future generations to appreciate centuries from now,” Nicolello wrote.

Efforts to reach Nicolello, who was on vacation, were unavailing. 

He joins state assemblywoman Michelle Schimel and Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Anna Kaplan as local politicians who have voiced their support for Inisfada’s preservation.

The 87-room retreat house, named “Inisfada” after the Gaelic word for “Long Island,” was sold by the Jesuit order to the Manhasset Bay Group, Inc. for $36.5 million earlier this month.

The residence was built for $2.3 million between 1916-1920 for the Bradys, who also had residences in Manhattan and Rome and maintained a close relationship to the Catholic church. After Genevieve Brady died in 1938, the then-300-acre property was left to the Jesuits, who used the Searingtown Road property as a seminary and retreat house for regional parishes and faith-based addiction help groups.

The Jesuits maintained the property for more than 50 years, but officials said high operating costs led the order to sell off most of the property. 

The order put the property on the housing market for $49 million a little more than a year ago.

After the property closed on June 2, the Jesuits removed the Genevieve Chapel for donation to Fordham University, in addition to other furnishings from the house. The chapel holds religious significance locally because Pope Pius XII celebrated mass there in 1936 when he was still a cardinal and on tour in the United States.

It is unclear whether the Manhasset Bay Group, which according to state records was established in Delaware earlier this year, plans to maintain the mansion and build around it or demolish it outright. 

Village of North Hills Mayor Marvin Natiss has said the buyer expressed interest in building condominiums on the property and turn it into “the jewel of North Hills.” The property has zoning for two houses per acre.

In the last few months, local civic groups have tried to find an alternative buyer for the house, but officials have said the Jesuit order has not returned calls seeking to join the negotiations.

Jesuit officials had declined to reveal the identity of the buyer with whom it was negotiating for the sale. It has been reported that the Manhasset Bay Group represents a land developer based in Hong Kong.

Rich Bentley, the president of the Council for Greater Manhasset Civic Associations, has questioned whether the Jesuit order’s relationship with a Chinese developer could be tied to a recently announced, Jesuit-run liberal arts college set to open in Fanling, China in 2015.

In mid July, the Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations filed an application to put Inisfada on the National Register of  Historic Places, in an effort to block the sale of the house.

The landmarking application was filed in the name of Brooklyn-based health care company SynergyFirst International, whose officials claim to have made a $36 million cash offer to the Jesuits for Inisfada in late July that included a demand to reconstruct the Genevieve Chapel and restore any furnishings and rooms the order had removed since the retreat house closed. Jesuit officials have declined to confirm or deny whether the offer was made.

Alexander Levkovich, SynergyFirst’s attorney, withdrew a motion for a temporary restraining order against the sale and deconstruction of Inisfada earlier this month after the house’s sale was announced in Nassau County Supreme Court and the Manhasset Bay Group was revealed as the property’s buyer. 

Levkovich said the company believed Judge Randy Sue Marber was unlikely to grant the restraining order because it had been filed against “John Doe” and not a specific organization.

Dr. Eli Weinstein, who is overseeing the legal action for SynergyFirst, has said the company will continue to seek legal action against the property’s deconstruction and is planning to seek to gain ownership of Inisfada through eminent domain.

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