Simon says the dark side finally won
Big money has bought out the determination of one fiesty Rockland County legend, Ellen Ferretti.
But it took death to beat her.
Ferretti gained fame in Rockland for her refusal to sell the house on the corner of Rt. 59 and Middletown Rd. that her father built with his own hands. The Nanuet Mall had long coveted the property. The lifetime Rockland County resident died in 2008, but not before reaching the ripe old age of 91.
Knowing they finally had a chance to acquire the property, Simon Group, owners of the Nanuet Mall, were able to make Ferretti’s nephew an offer he couldn’t refuse.
And so, soon, it will be “bye bye” to the Ferretti home, a Rockland County treasure. Let’s hope it makes a nice parking lot.
ELLEN FERRETTI IS TURNING IN HER GRAVE added by dskriloff on
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I loved that lady! I had many talks with her over the years. Met her many times at the cars shows at the mall and at the post office. She told me when the mall cemented fences around her property after they left she went out and ripped them out of the ground! She was a civic minded person who tried her hardiest to keep Nanuet the way it was. She did a damn good job of trying. She told me after they approved the Nanuet Railroad station to be a historic landmark it was burnt down right after that. She understood about how important preserving the past is to a community.
I was so glad she never sold her home. She told me her dad built the house by hand and she is not going anywhere no matter how much they try to get her out. The houses next to hers use to belong to other family members. She told about the time her dad wanted to upgrade the house. He purchased the furnace from the house that use to be in front on the Lederle property on the Nanuet Pearl River border. He took it out himself and installed it in their house.
God bless her. I always felt so good seeing her get out of her car or walking back to her house or seeing her out in front tending to her garden.