[title]
Real estate developers usually have their way in New York. Sure they’re occasionally stymied or inconvenienced by opponents of their projects, but eventually, if they want something built, it gets built and everyone else has to deal with it. But recently, Staten Island Borough President James Oddo came up with novel idea for sticking it to developers even after they prevail.
The story begins with the Savo Brothers development firm who, in 2013, bought 15-acres of prime S.I. real estate on the site of a former Jesuit retreat. Their plan was to build 400 condos there, necessitating the tear-down of a 1920s-era chapel and old-growth trees dating back to the 17th-century. As developers are wont to do, the Savo Brothers managed to deflect community efforts to save the trees and the chapel, which didn’t please Oddo. When the Savos submitted a list of proposed street names for the project to Oddo, he came up with three of his own instead: Avidita Place, Cupidity Drive and Fourberie Lane. Cupidty and avidita both mean greed, while fourberie is French for trickery. Although the Savos went to court against Oddo, the judge ruled in his favor. So, Cupidity Drive it is.
But let’s face it: Oddo is probably going over the heads of future inhabitants of Savo-ville with all those fancy words. He might have made his point more forcefully with something like Shithead Street or Douchebag Circle. Now if only a judge would approve that.