When Joseph Brantuk walked out of the Garden City Village Board meeting Thursday night, four of his children pleaded with him to fight the village's order to remove the basketball hoop in their driveway.

"I could tell the board deep in their hearts didn't want to take them down. But they were following the law as they see it," Brantuk said. "When I bought the house, the goal was up because the guy who had owned the house had eight children. His kids enjoyed playing hoops and so do mine."

Brantuk and about 150 other residents of Garden City packed a board meeting Thursday night to express their anger over the board's recent refusal to allow free-standing basketball poles in front yards. The village argues the front-yard poles are unsightly.