- Details
- By Levi Rickert
The Shinnecock Indian Nation’s battle to keep its two electronic signs operational will move to federal court next Tuesday, December 30, 2025.
The tribal nation, located about 90 miles east of Manhattan at the gateway to the Hamptons on Long Island, is a federally recognized tribe in an area known for estates owned by the wealthy and famous.
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At issue is a New York state court ruling earlier this year that found the tribe did not have the right to construct and operate the billboards and ordered them shut down. Last month, the judge in the case said the company that operates the billboards and sells advertising on them was in contempt of court and again demanded that the signs be shut down.
On Tuesday, December 23, 2025, the Shinnecock Nation fought back by filing a federal lawsuit against New York State, claiming the state illegally created an easement across the tribe’s Westwoods land in Hampton Bays when it extended Sunrise Highway past Hampton Bays in 1958.
The easement case returns to federal court in Central Islip on Tuesday, December 30, Shinnecock Vice Chairman Lance Gumbs told NBC New York.
The lawsuit’s case file includes proposed subpoenas for Governor Kathy Hochul, State Attorney General Letitia James, and state Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez.
A spokesperson for Attorney General James referred News 4 to the governor’s office and the New York State Department of Transportation for comment. However, a spokesperson for Governor Hochul declined to comment on behalf of those agencies, citing pending litigation.
The tribe has asked the federal court to immediately issue a restraining order against the state, prohibiting it from forcing the tribe to turn off the signs, which have been in place since they were constructed in 2019.
The suit reiterates a long-standing claim by the tribe: that when the State Department of Transportation extended Sunrise Highway to Southampton, it effectively seized dozens of acres of tribal land without proper authorization from the nation’s recognized leaders and without the permission of the U.S. Congress, in direct violation of constitutional requirements governing dealings with Native American tribes.
“The state seeks to prohibit the nation from operating the monument signs it developed based on a false claim that the state has a legal easement over the restricted fee lands known as Westwoods Territory,” the lawsuit states. “Not so. These are the nation’s protected lands, and the state failed to seek consent of Congress for its purported easement.”
The Shinnecock Indian Nation has an agreement with an advertising company that manages the two signs. Proceeds from the advertising go to the tribe as part of its economic development efforts.
Ironically, even with resistence to the signs, the state of New York paid for advertsing to provide COVID-19 guidance on the signs during the pandemic.
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