East Hampton Town Police Field 642 Calls

The Fourth of July weekend in East Hampton Town was “major, very busy,” Supervisor Larry Cantwell said at a board meeting on Tuesday, but “there were no calamities, no serious crimes. Overall I think we managed to get through the weekend reasonably well.”

Nevertheless, East Hampton Town police responded to more calls over the holiday weekend this year than last — 642, Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc reported. “Much of this is just the sheer number of people that we have in our community,” Mr. Cantwell said.  “It was clearly very crowded in many places.”

Crowds, public drunkenness, traffic infractions, and disturbances from summer rentals in neighborhoods were so bad during last year’s Fourth of July holiday that several hundred Montauk residents appeared before the board soon afterward to insist that officials do something. The town board has added enforcement staff, adopted new policies,  and enacted a number of laws designed to tone things down.

Noise complaints called in last weekend stemmed primarily from house parties, Mr. Cantwell said; only a small number were about noise from bars and clubs.

In an interview, East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael D. Sarlo said that Montauk was more sedate than it had been during the July 4 holiday in 2015. “Things, overall, are much better out there despite the huge number of people,” Chief Sarlo said.

“It was one of the busiest weekends in our history, yet only a handful of commercial noise complaints, and barely any altercations or problems at the bars. The behavior of the crowds out roaming from bar to bar is much better, less open alcohol, litter, and public urination,” he said.