Montauk is in a rough place with the imminent closing of its sole pharmacy. A new owner of the White’s building on the Plaza in the center of town has said he would welcome a big-box chain, like CVS or Walgreens and the rent they could afford, but this could shut out the existing pharmacist there. Without a pharmacy, Montauk residents — and visitors on which many of the hamlet’s other businesses depend — would have to travel to East Hampton to get their prescriptions filled. But there is an example of how this could be solved.
In addition to renting space to medical offices, the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation on Pantigo Place near Town Hall hosts a modest pharmacy, Park Place Chemists. Park Place itself moved from its original location in East Hampton Village, where it had been for decades. By the early 2000s, the space it had occupied was replaced by a clothing boutique. It found a home at the Healthcare Foundation building. There has been some talk about whether a low-cost space for a pharmacy could be provided in the Montauk Playhouse, which could be a terrific option.
With real estate prices and rents as high as they are here, few mom-and-pop businesses are able to make it, even essential ones like those that provide lifesaving medications. In East Hampton Village, the nonprofit Anchor Society is working on helping to find homes for services residents and visitors actually need. The Healthcare Foundation has demonstrated that having a pharmacy within a larger community facility is viable. There is no reason why a similar solution cannot be found to serve the needs of Montauk.