Joel Sachs
Joel H. Sachs, who served as attorney for the Village of Pleasantville and other municipalities, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 24 after a brief illness in White Plains. He was 78.
Born Mar. 27, 1942, Joel leaves behind his loving wife of 47 years, Roslyn Carol Sachs, and cherished daughters Beth Sachs Zoller (Ron) of Livingston, N.J. and Lori Sachs Harrison (Alexander) of Scarsdale. He was extraordinarily proud of his grandchildren, David, Sarah and Talia Zoller and Maxwell and Lily Harrison. He is also survived by his beloved aunt, Gertrude Berlin, of Boca Raton, Fla. and his dear cousin, Dr. Jo Ann Berlin, of Port Saint Lucie, Fla. Joel was preceded in death by his brother, Melvin A. Sachs, Esq., and his parents, Rose (Ronnie) and Harold Sachs.
Joel was born in New York City, attended Mount Vernon High School and raised his own family in Edgemont/Scarsdale. He was the epitome of living life to the fullest and he was always on the move, aiming to fill each day with fun and excitement. He and his wife Roslyn traveled the United States and the world over as he loved history, culture and the arts. Joel enjoyed going to the theater, concerts, museums and sporting events, often with his wife and family. He loved to watch and to play sports of all kinds. He enjoyed golf and swimming and attended frequent football, baseball, hockey and basketball games. He held season tickets to the Giants for over 50 years, and even in the deep cold, he rarely missed a game.
Sachs served as counsel for the Lake Placid Winter Organizing Olympics and also attended the winter Olympics in Turin, Italy and summer Olympics in London and Montreal.
For the past 28 years, Joel was a member of the White Plains law firm of Keane & Beane, P.C. where he represented numerous private entities and governmental agencies in a wide variety of environmental and land use matters. He established the firm’s environmental law practice and greatly expanded the firm’s land use practice. A significant portion of his practice was devoted to representing municipalities and private clients throughout New York State in land use, zoning and environmental disputes.
Throughout his long and distinguished career, he represented clients in all federal and state courts in New York, including the New York Court of Appeals, the Appellate Divisions and the federal district courts in New York, the Second Circuit as well as the United States Supreme Court. He also served as construction arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.
For the past 40 years, Joel also served as an adjunct professor at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law of Pace University teaching courses on state and municipal environmental law, land use and construction law. He was also the first director of the Municipal Law Resource Center at the school.
Joel received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has a Masters of Law from New York University. Early in his career, he clerked for the Honorable Charles H. Tenney of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and then served as an assistant attorney general for the state and deputy chief of its Environmental Protection Bureau for five years in the 1970s.
Thereafter, he served several years as an attorney for the Town of Greenburgh, and continued as counsel to many municipalities throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond. Sachs was widely recognized as a leader in the Real Property Law Section (Chair) and the Environmental Law Section (Chair) of the New York State Bar Association, the Westchester County Bar Association (President), the Westchester County Legal Aid Society, the White Plains Bar Association (President) and the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Lyndhurst.
Sachs received numerous awards, accolades and honors for his pioneering work in environmental law. He had been named best environmental attorney in Westchester County by Westchester Magazine, the New York Times Magazine and one of the best environmental attorneys in the New York metropolitan area by New York Magazine on multiple occasions.
In addition. Sachs was annually listed in the reference book, Best Lawyers in America (Environmental). He was also named to the Metro Super Lawyers List, one of the 25 best attorneys in Westchester County on multiple occasions. Sachs enjoyed writing and lecturing on environmental law matters for many years before bar association groups on environmental and land use topics.
In honor of Joel’s memory, donations may be made to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research in honor of his late brother Mel A. Sachs who bravely fought the disease.
There was a private graveside funeral and interment at Sharon Gardens in Valhalla on Jan. 27. In light of COVID-19 restrictions, shiva took place over Zoom. A larger memorial will be planned once restrictions are eased.
