Settlement Judge Has Deep East End Roots

The judge chosen for the November 8 settlement hearing of the controversial Deepwater Wind farm proposal is Gregg Sayre, a former member of the New York Service Commission who retired earlier this year.

During a break Friday, he described his role in the generic settlement process as being “the grease in the wheels.”

“I can talk to anybody. I can pass messages on to anybody,” Sayre said. “I do not, in any way, participate in the decision in the case.”

The verdict, he said, is left to the participants.

“I can guide them,” Sayre added. “They reach a decision or not. It may be on all issues, it may be on some issues; it may be all parties, it may be some parties, it may be no parties. I don’t have a vested stake in that, and I don’t have any marching orders.”

If his name sounds familiar to East Enders, it should. His eighth great-grandfather was Thomas Sayre, one of the founders of Southampton. Thomas Sayre’s son was Job Sayre, for whom Jobs Lane is named. His family name also graces a main road in Wainscott, Sayres Path, where some of the participants in the settlement meeting reside.