YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE to Montauklife Powered by Vision and a Ton of Experience
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SEPTEMBER 2019 • VOL. 25 • ISSUE 6 YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO MONTAUKLife Powered by vision and a ton of experience The South Fork Wind Farm, powered by Ørsted and Eversource Our state’s first offshore wind farm and the largest source of renewable energy on Long Island, the South Fork Wind Farm will produce enough clean, renewable energy every year to power over 70,000 homes, in the process offsetting millions of tons of carbon emissions. East Hampton is leading the way. And the people of Ørsted and Eversource are committed to our community, and a project we can all be proud of. To learn more, visit southforkwindfarm.com. 2 | SEPTEMBER 2019 www.MontaukLife.com THE MONTAUK VALUE CARD Featuring Offerings From The Best Local Restaurants, Shops, Sports and Service Providers! For all the details on our seasonal promotions go to: montauklife.com Your complete source for everything you need to know about this unique area! Sponsored by Montauk Life www.MontaukLife.com SEPTEMBER 2019 | 3 SEPTEMBER 2019 | Vol. 25 | Issue 6 YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO MONTAUKLife Always the Right YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE HAMPTONSLife Blend featuring YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE HAMPTONSLife 26 OPEN AT 6AM SAGTOWN.com 631.725.TOWN (8696) 78 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY 11963 FOCUS: MONTAUK 6 SPORTS & RECREATION 30 There are challenges unique to this Grab your board, bike or boots and watch unique area Here’s the first part of a two- the leaves turn issue look at the most significant FALL CATERING 40 LIFE’S GUIDE TO THE 2019 Want to throw a party without the fuss? SEASON 10 Here are the pro who can help you do that From festivals to music, galas and get- togethers there are still a host of things to FALL DRINKS 42 do this first month of fall Let these five custom cocktails entertain you and the family EAST END ART 14 Take a stroll into one of our local museums RESTAURANT ROUND-UP 44 MONTAUK or galleries and enjoy world-class art With dozens of places to eat the East End offers something for every taste Come FALL GEAR 16 browse the best in our monthly compilation Find the right board, suit or bike for an bar autumn outing REAL ESTATE 56 From the state of the market to new OUTDOOR LIVING 24 homes and more, all you need to know to raw bar Cooler weather is coming! Be sure to get take the real estate plunge your patio and backyard ready EAST END SHOPPING 66 HEALTH & WELLNESS 26 Need a new look? Want to freshen up the seasonal cooking Look good, feel good, be good with this house? Bike bent, bored with your board? list of health and fitness providers We have the retail solutions for you ON THE COVER From fishing at Montauk Point to exploring the farm stands of Bridgehampton 17 SOUTH EDISON STREET ace photographer Kim Miller captures iconic shots of the East End 631 668-4200 | SOUTHEDISON.COM Montauk Life is published monthly PUBLISHER ART DIRECTOR EDITOR IN CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER HEAD OF DELIVERY Kirby Marcantonio Sara Mannino Ted Strong Kim Miller James Powers Write to us at PO Box 420, East Hampton, New York 11937 631-324-2405 • [email protected] @southedison Call us at E-mail us at We welcome your comments and submissions of articles and photos. 4 | SEPTEMBER 2019 www.MontaukLife.com PUBLISHER MESSAGE You'll never see one of these in Ft Pond Bay. “I Started a Joke …” few years ago a funny thought hit me I just had to put in print. And much like the pre-disco Bee AGees tune, it came back to not just bite me in the butt but a client, too. An illustration of how irrationality plays into the problem of trying to properly run an eclec- tic area like Montauk it sets the stage for the main article that leads this issue. I had just read that Mark Rowan has bought the old Duryea’s property on the bay. Frankly I had never heard of him, but anyone laying out roughly $8 million in this town was bound to be a major player. So I googled him to see who he might be. As we now know, Mark is one of the heads of Apollo Global Management, one of the largest alternative investment companies in the world. sengers ashore there, the inherent bottleneck in moving ness leaders all sure there was some deep, dark plot to Now why would a man of international finance decide them around, the less than stellar economics of a cruise turn Duryea’s into the next Port Ft. Lauderdale. To this to buy Duryea’s, asked me. Of course it was a great spot to Montauk quickly added up to an idea that belonged day it still pops up in local newspaper editorials and in for almost anything. A 600’ arc of the bay with a pre-ex- in the dust heap of idiotic Montauk moments. But still, Planning Board meetings. Crazy, huh? isting food operation could easily become the next big it was funny. The idea of hundreds of Hawaiian shirted, Sure, until you see that too many major decision here thing here. But what about that long abandoned dock Panama hatted, senior citizens coming two-by-two down and for that matter across the country are made on erro- that stood 200 feet into Ft Pond’s Bay very deep open the gang plank tickled my rather perverse funny bone. neous information, urban myths and down right lies. It’s waters? Waters that are deep enough to accommodate I couldn’t resist telling a few folks. And the look in their hard enough to make sensible choices when you have ships of almost any size. eyes! The surprise that tuned to anger. Responses that the facts, but for some, facts are inconvenient truths that Looking over Apollo’s many holdings I had one of ran from “He’ll ruin Montauk! I knew we couldn’t trust simply get in the way of getting what they want. those double-edged “ah ha” moments. They owned a him! Who does he think he is!” And worse. Of course I The main piece in this month’s issue takes a look at majority share in Norwegian Cruise Lines. Putting 2 and let each marinate in their own dark conclusions before a number of major issues confronting Montauk. By no 2 together to get 6 for a brief moment I thought, cruise telling them it was all a joke. No such idea existed. It was means do I purport to have all the answers. But I can ships in Ft. Pond Bay, what a brilliant idea. That made crazy to even think it. And I thought that was the end of it. pose the questions and let you decide the wheat from sense for a mill-second. Then the absurdity of it struck. Until I heard that same crazy idea coming from the the chaff. ■ The logistics of bothering to bring hundreds of pas- mouth of those who should know better. Civic and busi- Kirby Marcantonio 631.725.0900 126 MAIN STREET SAG HARBOR, NY lulukitchenandbar lulusagharbor.com www.MontaukLife.com SEPTEMBER 2019 | 5 FOCUS ON: MONTAUK FACING THE FUTURE ver the course of my 25 years running Montauk village’s ocean beach in spring when naturally occur- with a few tweaks suggest by critics that did make the Life I have seen this special community change, ring erosion narrows it over the winter. Thousands of overall practicality and aesthetics better. The result, we Ogrow and for many prosper. Given the unique cubic yards of sand added to the dunes, smoothed out have a beach. The beach attracts visitors. Visitors who challenges businesses here face it is frankly a small mir- across the beach, feathered into the shore break. Crude fill hotels, eat out, buy t-shirts, take surf lessons. True, acle. It starts with an economy that requires you to pay as it may be, it works. Since Super Storm Sandy nearly we’ve been lucky to avoid any really strong storms that year-round expenses with 100 day seasons. Need help? knocked down the string of ocean front motels on the could dismantle the artificial elements of the beach. But It’s not just almost impossible to find where do they live village beach we’ve managed to hold our own with we’ve been able to sustain a local economy that dwarfs while they work? You like competition? There are over 80 Mother Nature. More ambitious plans to mine sand from that investment. places to eat here. East Hampton Village has 11. off-shore, establish artificial reefs, build bigger beach Having won that battle, a stiffer challenge ensued Now let’s throw in the myriad and at times contradic- defenses have been floated. So far they are just plans. when the Town of East Hampton called in planners to tory rules and regulations imposed by the Town, State It costs $1-2 million a year to do this. Once paid by study Montauk and recommend long term solutions to and Feds. Covering everything from how many fish you the private oceanfront motel owners the cost has been rising seas and stronger storms. It took two years and can catch to when you have to stop playing music for largely paid by the Town and State. Not a cheap solu- hundreds of thousands of dollars and last spring a de- some it is a death by a thousand bureaucratic cuts. Of tion, but the stakes are high enough to justify it.