Teen Night Troubles at Lily Pond

    Scantily clad girls in a crowded nightspot, their skin shiny from dancing, is a common snapshot of a Hamptons summer night.

    But when the girls are 13 years old, it’s not okay with Adam Fine.

    The East Hampton High School principal has made it “a personal mission of mine” to curtail the student-aimed evenings at Lily Pond, a nightclub on Three Mile Harbor Road that has been hosting teen night parties — frequently on the same night as school-sponsored events.

    The Facebook page for the Halloween Teen Bash @ Lily Pond, which was held on Oct. 28 — the same night as the high school’s Halloween dance — collected 638 “likes” from teenagers as far away as Brooklyn.

    “It’s time to get a little reckless,” one Southampton student posted.

    “They don’t check IDs,” Mr. Fine said. This means, to him, that kids under the required age of 13 can attend, as well as people over 17.

    A video that was posted on YouTube and has since been taken down showed East Hampton high school students gyrating and stumbling around on a crowded dance floor in what appeared to be a state of inebriation.

    Although the club locks up the alcohol on teen night there have been reported cases of East Hampton police taking home students found standing in the middle of Three Mile Harbor Road, at a late hour, in a daze. In 2005, when the club was under different ownership, there was a stabbing in the parking lot at a teen night.

    “It’s exploiting East Hampton,” Mr. Fine said. “I care about these kids. They can make decisions now that can come back to bite them later on.”

    The one-two punch of holding the parties on the same night as school-sponsored activities, plus an offer by the promoter, M.C. Skittles, for students to promote the event, has the principal seeing red.

    “It cheapens the hard work and fund- raising of the kids,” he said. He reported that students had responded to the promotion offer, and said custodians have picked up “stacks” of cards trumpeting the Lily Pond nights from the hallway floors.

    The Halloween dance at Lily Pond was standing-room-only, while the high school dance the same night, which acts as a fund-raiser for student-based activities, only drew about 100 students.

    At the 11th hour, Mr. Fine appealed to parents and school associations to donate money for a raffle and a cash-prize costume contest. One of the draws at the Lily Pond party is a $500 cash prize.

    Although the school came up with $600 in prizes, it was within 48 hours of the dance, and the turnout was less than stellar.

    “I think it’s a disgrace,” said Pat Hope, a board member, at the Nov. 1 East Hampton School Board meeting.

    “The video showed older guys, workers at the club, just gawking at our girls,” Mr. Fine said.

    Mr. Fine admitted that he had not communicated with the nightclub, but said that would be a step he would be willing to take.

    The next “Teen Bash” at Lily Pond is on Nov. 22, which again will offer cash prizes for costumes. The high school is not having an event that night.

    The poster for the Thanksgiving teen night, which can be seen on the Facebook page for the Halloween dance, shows a scantily clad girl crouched down and staring at the camera. The event is sold out.