A Teacher Is Charged
Richard E. Klein, a science and computer-coding teacher at East Hampton High School, is due in court on Oct. 5 to answer misdemeanor charges that he allowed illegal rentals of his Montauk house during the summer.
East Hampton Town Ordinance Enforcement Department officials said that Mr. Klein, 58, violated local laws twice during August.
An inspector’s sworn statement alleged that the house at 14 Hoover Court was rented by a group of eight people for several days around Aug. 11; the town code allows the rental or use of a property by no more than four unrelated people.
The same ordinance inspector, Aldi Binozi, in a separate document, alleged that Mr. Klein had rented the house three times for a term of less than two weeks between July 10 and Aug. 17; town law allows sub-two-week rentals no more than twice in any six-month period.
In court documents, Mr. Binozi said that one of Mr. Klein’s tenants, Nelson E. Bohorquez, 41, of New Jersey, took a Friday-to-Sunday rental of the Hoover Court house in July, with 10 people paying $350 each.
On Aug. 7, Mr. Binozi reported, another tenant, Alexander W. Stotik, 28, told him he was part of a group of “eight guys staying at this house. We are here for a bachelor party.”
At about 11 that night, East Hampton Town police received a complaint about noise coming from the Hoover Court house.
Neighbors said the party grew over the rental period and continued for more than 24 hours with frequent yelling and taxis coming and going with horns blaring at all hours.
The house is listed in East Hampton tax records as a 954-square-foot, one-story, three-bedroom ranch with a full basement. It has a certificate of occupancy from the town for a deck addition and the conversion of a basement to habitable space. The work was done before Mr. Klein took ownership.
Mr. Klein, whose hours as a teacher at East Hampton High School had been reduced last year amid a budget crunch, had his salary restored to just over $125,000 by the board of education on Sept. 15.
Richard Burns, the East Hampton School District superintendent, said that he had been unaware of the charges and declined further comment.
The case concerning 14 Hoover Court came during an increased effort by East Hampton Town this summer. Others cited for alleged excessive turnover during August included Sandra Saldana of 30 Ocean Boulevard in Springs and Eileen Aivaliotis of 49 Gannet Drive in Montauk, according to Betsy Bambrick, the director of ordinance enforcement for the town.
Mr. Klein pleaded not guilty to the charges in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Aug. 31. His wife, Denise, who is also a teacher at East Hampton High School, was with her husband in court but was not named in the complaint.
During that court appearance, Mr. Klein and the town prosecutor discussed a settlement, but Mr. Klein apparently balked when a condition allowing for official inspections of his house was proposed.
On their way out of town court last month, both declined to comment for this article. “We’re both local teachers, and I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ms. Klein said.
With Reporting by Doug Kuntz and Christine Sampson