The Mast-Head: The Bell Tolls

They really have the cleanup thing down pat in Port Jefferson, where I was for two days last week for a newspaper conference. Early Saturday, when I was out looking for a cup of coffee and something to eat instead of the hotel buffet, I noticed that the main route through the business district was littered with castoffs from the previous night. Plastic cups, waxed-paper remnants of late-night pizzas, cigarette butts, empty soda bottles, napkins, and other garbage spread over a two-block stretch.

By the time I finished my coffee, at about 7 a.m., however, a crew of men with leaf-blowers had swept in, sending the debris into the gutter, where a street-sweeper vacuumed it all up and hauled it away. In minutes, really, there was no trace of the previous night’s activities.

In addition to keeping the streets tidy, Port Jeff has much about it that reminds me of some of our South Fork villages, such as Sag Harbor, that try to balance the needs of the people who live there with the interests of those for whom making money is the primary concern. In sum, the basic question for any resort or day-tripper paradise is: How does a community see itself, and whom exactly should its social and governmental entities serve first?

I may have said it before, but from my perspective, residents come first. Policies that benefit those who simply live and work in a place can be a plus for visitors and the enterprises that cater to them as well. Consider East Hampton Village, where, outside of the Main Street and Newtown Lane center, all is orderly, clean, and quiet. As a result, real estate values here are a significant multiple above those seen where the rules are less rigorously enforced.  

In some ways downtown Port Jeff is kind of like Montauk, a place to which people travel to walk around and take in the sights. And the weekend crowds that might seem not quite thick enough for shopkeepers could well feel like way too many for those who call either place home.