Gardiner v. United States Trust Co.

*93OPINION OF THE COURT

Milonas, J. P.

Gardiner’s Island, a 3,300-acre land mass that is located at the eastern end of Long Island and is home to many species of wildlife, is considered to be of unique environmental and historic value. It has been owned by the Gardiner family since 1639, but in recent years members of the family have engaged in repeated litigation concerning the right to occupy, lease or sell the island. The present dispute arises out of the second codicil to the will of Sarah Diodati Gardiner, who died childless in 1953.

Although Sarah Gardiner originally intended to bequeath the…