Fighting Chaos
Congratulations are due the East Hampton Town Board for unanimously voting last week to ban parking on a significant portion of Edgemere Street, where patrons of the Surf Lodge bar and restaurant (and lately, full-on concert venue) have made the road treacherous. The no-parking zone will encompass about a half mile of Edgemere Street, from well north of the club to South Elwell Street; parking will remain available closer to the Long Island Rail Road station, at about where Flamingo Avenue begins. In effect, the board told the Surf Lodge to deal with its customers’ cars. The move is but a start, and the board must turn next to other problem spots, most, but not all, in Montauk.
A good number of drivers have described near-misses to the west, at Cyril’s Fish House on Montauk Highway, for example. Westbound traffic slows to a stop there as patrons, taxi drivers, and the restaurant’s staff stir their own breed of chaos. Some assistance from the New York State Department of Transportation is sorely needed there — and quickly — before a fatal accident proves fears correct.
Another problem site made the news this week when a lawsuit was filed against the town by Sloppy Tuna, another hot spot in Montauk, challenging what it says was an arbitrary change in its maximum occupancy. That will work its way through the legal process, but a side note concerning the often-crowded bar and restaurant deserves attention.
Former East Hampton Town Police Chief Ed Ecker Jr. now seems to work for a consulting firm hired by Drew Doscher, Sloppy Tuns’s owner. No disrespect intended, but we suspect Mr. Ecker was hired as much for who he is as for his expertise. On July 22, Mr. Ecker sat down with two former subordinates, the current chief, Michael D. Sarlo, and Lt. Thomas Grenci, the Montauk precinct commander, to discuss Sloppy Tuna. Whether one likes the place or is unhappy about the throngs it attracts, there seems to be something not quite right about a well-connected former town official acting on behalf of a business taking the town to court. One might hope Sloppy Tuna would try to tone it down so that residents would find being there more to their liking. But that is probably too much to ask when there are large heaps of money to be made catering to the party crowd.
Owners of these bars and restaurants will all say they are complying with what authorities ask and are being unfairly targeted. It will be a tough fight to bring them into line, but the town board, through the Edgemere parking ban and other efforts, is demonstrating that it has the will to take it on — even if it means standing up to old friends like Mr. Ecker.