As The Year - 1996 - Turns
The final page has been torn off the 1996 calendar and the 52nd chapter completed. Will the year be remembered as one of triumph or tragedy?
It was the year of record-breaking snow - snow to ski in, snow to build with, snow to blanket the roads and bring the entire Northeast to a halt.
Snow to spare - 84 inches of it in the 1995-96 winter. It began before the first of the year and did not end until the second week of April.
And just as the snow stopped, the rain began, seemingly ceaseless rain. Last year was also the year of rain.
Good, Bad, Ugly
It was the year of the cigar, when stogies invaded the East End. They were sold everywhere, it seemed, from the Sag Harbor 7-Eleven to the Candy Kitchen in Bridgehampton.
Brown tide made it a poor year for scallops. It wasn't a good year for farming, either.
It was the year of upscale jewelry stores and thwarted superstores, of big-dollar renovations to some East End schools and a big-dollar theft from one of them. The year of the superintendent/principal shuffle and some East Hampton Town Board scuffles, of plans come to fruition and plans short-circuited.
Here are a few of the most memorable, most curious, and most noteworthy stories from the 1996 book - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Tragedy
On July 17, off the coast of eastern Long Island, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, en route to Paris, exploded over the ocean. All 230 aboard, including several with local ties, perished. The shock waves were felt around the world. Relief workers, investigators, and the press descended. Patrols combed beaches from Montauk to Moriches for debris. The tragedy remains unexplained.
East End roads claimed several lives. Paul Koncelik of East Hampton died after losing control of his car on Swamp Road. Karin Harshmann of East Hampton was killed instantly in a collision with a State Police vehicle near Southampton College.
Accidents
Three East Hampton High School teens were injured, one seriously, when a dump truck hit a Lexus on April 2. Jennifer Gamble, the driver, was badly hurt, but was able to go back to school in the fall.
In May, a visitor from Roslyn Heights, Ann Marie Biondi, lost a leg in a Noyac motorcycle accident. Police charged Richard Bambrick with drunken driving in the aftermath of the collision.
A popular East Hampton Town maintenance worker, Gerard Eberhart of Springs, underwent seven hours of surgery after being struck by a truck while riding his bicycle.
Edward Prado of Montauk was the victim of an alleged hit-and-run driver in Montauk, while preparing to tow a car back to his service station. The driver, Jorge Astudillo, was found the next day and faces a felony count of leaving the scene of an accident.
Fires
In February, a fire destroyed the Montauk studio of the late artist Balcomb Greene. Twelve paintings were destroyed, others smoke-damaged.
On the Fourth of July weekend, an amateur fireworks display near the old Promised Land fish factory, following the Devon Yacht Club display across the harbor, ignited brush and debris but was contained before reaching nearby houses.
Local firefighters again averted tragedy on July 12. Thick black smoke over Bridgehampton was visible for miles after a fire at Hampton Tank Gas Service on Maple Lane ignited a tank truck.
A workshop burned down and several antique cars were destroyed, but the blaze was contained before it could spread to an 18,000-gallon holding tank. There were no injuries.
Big Busts
Southampton Town Police, aided by county drug enforcement teams, rounded up some 70 alleged crack dealers in one late-night October sweep, including four Bridgehampton men and one from East Hampton.
Less than a month later East Hampton Town police, aided by Federal Drug Enforcement agents, conducted a sweep of their own, primarily in Montauk. Fifteen alleged low-level dealers were arrested.
Curious Crimes
A gallery opening became a gallery closing when Farah Damji was arrested for trespassing in the middle of her opening reception. The owner of the rented space, at 75 Main Street in East Hampton, said she had forged his signature on the lease. Ms. Damji has since dropped from sight.
It was the year of thwarted superstores and upscale jewelry stores, of big-dollar renovations to some East End schools and a big-dollar theft from one of them.
The embezzlement of $80,000 from the tiny Bridgehampton School district was followed by the resignation of the school's treasurer, Lyllis Topping. Charged with the theft, she has since made complete restitution and awaits sentencing.
Schools Heads
In November, with the community still reeling from news of the embezzlement, the Bridgehampton School Board fired District Superintendent John Edwards, for unrelated reasons that have never been fully explained. He left the school a week later.
In Amagansett, School Superintendent George Aman surprised residents by resigning in October, citing what he called unfair criticism and a lack of professional trust. After many rallied to his side, he changed his mind and decided to stay.
Two East Hampton principals retired in June, Dennis Donatuti from the John M. Marshall Elementary School and Jay Niles from the high school.
More School News
On the private-school front, half the Hampton Day School's board of directors resigned in December 1995 and others announced plans to found a new school down the road. The Hayground School began classes in September. Meanwhile, Hampton Day fired its director, Barry Raebeck, who fired back with a $5.5 million lawsuit.
The new East Hampton Learning Center opened its doors to day care children and the district's pre-kindergarten program. Steps were taken toward establishing East Hampton's first on-site preschool special education program.
An alternative school for high school students at risk of dropping out was established in East Hampton.
In Springs, after nearly four years of contention, teachers and the School Board finally agreed on a contract, raising hopes that the acrimony that has plagued the district may come to an end. Whew!
Voters in East Hampton approved a $5.3 million expansion of the high school on Dec. 4.
Also in December, Springs and East Hampton reached agreement on a tuition plan for the next five years. At long last. And, the two districts, with Amagansett and Montauk, are studying the possibility of forming a centralized high school, or consolidating into one district.
Building Department
Building and Not Building: After 10 years of planning and myriad stops and starts, the East Hampton Housing Authority broke ground in April on its 50-unit affordable housing complex on Accabonac Highway in East Hampton. In September, the Authority fired the project's architect. A new one was hired last month and work has resumed. To be continued.
Building: The construction of East Hampton Town's first-ever recreation center for young people made some large progress in fund-raising, though a promotional film shot during the Memorial Day parade delayed the parade and got veterans up in arms. The finished trailer, however, played to much acclaim at the East Hampton Cinemas throughout the summer.
Not building: A Sag Harbor skate-boarding park. The park, planned for Pierson High School property between two houses, incurred neighbors' wrath, and after liability insurance became an issue the project screeched to a halt.
Building: Construction moved along on the East Hampton Library's new wing. Funds are being sought for a speedy completion.
Building: Seven years in the planning, the new East Hampton Town Airport broke ground at last.
The Town Board
Republicans took over Town Hall in January, their first majority in 12 years. Some highly acrimonious meetings marked the Town Board's 1996 calendar, including disagreements over the direction of the recycling program, over a Republican push to move the Democratic Supervisor into a smaller office, over the capital budget, and more.
Despite its partisan battles the Town Board managed to expand a ban on all-terrain vehicles, adopt a new open-space plan, approve its first-ever capital plan, and approve moratoriums on new ferries and on superstores.
Two longstanding Democratic officials went their separate ways. East Hampton Town Justice James Ketcham retired after eight years on the bench and former Supervisor Tony Bullock headed for Washington, to become Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's chief of staff.
New Republican faces at Town Hall: Robert Savage, town attorney; Gary Swanander, Planning Board member, James Mangano, appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Lawsuits
The A&P's plans to build a new store, roughly twice the size of the present one and larger than any other retail store in East Hampton, provoked a wave of public protest and ultimately a town law regulating the size of retail spaces. The new law makes the proposed superstore illegal, and in its wake the A&P corporation sued the town, saying the law was unconstitutional.
The town prevailed in other lawsuits. One involved an ABC Carpet and Home tent sale billed as a fund-raiser but banned by the town as an ABC bonanza, and another was brought by Montauk residents who wanted the hamlet to become an incorporated village.
A settlement of several suits involving former Councilman Robert Cooper and the Town Police Department virtually fell into the board's lap after Mr. Cooper had a public falling-out with his lawyer.
Southampton
Southampton Town made waves by firing the head of its Sanitation Department, Brian Gilbride, and 17 of his workers. Twelve others were given reduced chores and reduced pay. The Civil Service Association is contemplating a lawsuit.
Southampton voters passed a $5 million open-space bond act in November, giving the town leverage, among other things, to obtain county, state, and Federal land-preservation grants.
Up and Down Mainstreet
Jerry Della Femina, the Manhattan ad man turned local entrepreneur, ran for a seat on the East Hampton Village Board, and the 1996 campaign was like no other. It featured unprecedented fund-raising and spending, profuse print and radio ads, mailings, campaign consultants, polls, and a touch of mud-slinging. In the end, the incumbents, Edwin L. Sherrill Jr. and William C. Heppenheimer 3d, won by a wide margin.
Mr. Della Femina's very own Pumpkin Papers, his lawsuit against the village involving the display of pumpkins in front of Jerry and David's Red Horse Market, was dismissed.
Village offices moved from temporary accommodations on Cedar Street to the renovated Lyman Beecher house on the corner of Huntting Lane and Main Street.
The Long Island Rail Road eliminated its East End ticket agents and announced that new double-decker trains and higher platforms were on the way, by 1998. Residents were not happy.
Martha Stewart was sued by her neighbors on Georgica Close Road, Harry and Linda Macklowe, over a grove of trees on their shared property line. The Village was also named in the suit.
Sag Harbor Village
Sag Harbor celebrated its 150th anniversary, though not with a car show. Opponents short-circuited the Louis Vuitton luggage company's plan to exhibit antique cars on Main Street on a busy June weekend.
In another village-owned-property issue, the Bay Street Theatre was denied the use of Marine Park for its summer fund-raiser. Long Wharf was used instead.
After a village survey showed many Main Street stores and restaurants were spilling over onto public property, they were ordered to stop serving food, selling merchandise, and displaying flowers in the disputed areas. Business owners were furious, but were placated when a license was created allowing them to buy yearly rights to the property.
Women
Women played a visible role in the November election, but did not prevail at the polls. The most prominent, Nora Bredes, challenged Rep. Michael P. Forbes. She won East Hampton, but not the race. After reelection, Mr. Forbes said he would oppose House Speaker Newt Gingrich's bid for a second term.
Melissa Arch Walton, a Democrat chosen to take on State Assemblyman Fred. W. Thiele Jr., also lost.
Also in November, East End voters approved several open-space and clean-water propositions and gave an overwhelming nod to Peconic County, hoping the state will take a closer look at the idea.
Ride'em Cowboy
The East Hampton commercial district appears quite different from a decade ago. This was the year the president of the Chamber of Commerce compared Main Street to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
Having said goodbye to some of the older stores - Engel Pottery, the Whitman Gallery, the Village Shoe Store, and Diamond's Furniture - the village welcomed new ones, sometimes in long-empty buildings. London Jewelers moved into the renovated Veterans of Foreign Wars building and McCarver and Moser, another jewelry store, took up residency in the old Village Hall across the street.
So we open the book on the New Year. While we will continue to reap the benefits of 1996's triumphs, the year's peskiest issues will probably not go away. They will transmute, take on new life. Some may fizzle out. To quote William Butler Yeats, ". . . time and the world are ever in flight."
With reporting by Julia Mead, Josh Lawrence, Michelle Napoli, Susan Rosenbaum, Rick Murphy, Stephen Kotz, and Russell Drumm.