Locals battle reverend for 10-acre Staten Island retreat

Judge blocks the $15M sale to condo developers

Mount Manresa in Staten Island
Mount Manresa in Staten Island

A judge has temporarily blocked the sale of Mount Manresa, a more than 10-acre Jesuit retreat in Staten Island’s Shore Acres, to Savo Brothers development. The controversial $15 million deal that would replace the 102-year-old property with condo town homes has been met with a bipartisan protest from both politicians and residents.

But Rev. Michael Hallinan, who will use the proceeds to run Jesuit programs at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Port Richmond, says that it is time for politicians to stop “grandstanding” and “put up or shut up.”

Hallinan is calling for politicians and concerned citizens to raise the funds to buy the property if they want it saved from redevelopment, according to the New York Post.

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“For 100 years, the Society of Jesus has been exceedingly generous to the people of Staten Island,” Hallinan wrote in a letter to City Council member James Oddo.

However, in a final effort, the Committee to Save Mount Manresa has begun a letter-writing campaign asking for the assistance of Pope Francis. The sale “seems to go against everything he [Pope Francis] has been talking about and what is being reported in the news,” committee member Barbara San­chez told the Post. [NYP]Christopher Cameron