We didn’t see much of Representative Lee Zeldin out here when he was in Congress. In fact, I can count on one hand the times he turned up in East Hampton for a debate or other forum. He was unlike Tim Bishop, the former Southampton College provost Mr. Zeldin defeated in the 2014 election. Mr. Bishop seemed anywhere and everywhere during his time in office. By contrast, Mr. Zeldin was scarce as hen’s teeth, preferring tightly controlled audiences among friends.
One time I particularly enjoy recalling was when the Zeldin office set up a town hall meeting at the American Legion in Amagansett. After making a few remarks in the main room, Mr. Zeldin retreated into another space for one-on-one conversations with constituents.
It was a strange experience from the moment I entered the building. Two tall guys in dark suits blocked the door, and it was a while before they finally let me inside. By then, Mr. Zeldin had wrapped up his brief speech, and those of us who stayed sat uneasily in folding plastic chairs not sure what we were supposed to do.
I took a seat near the late Henry Haney, who told me he was looking forward to a few minutes with the congressman. Before long, he and I were summoned to the inner sanctum. We followed one of the big guys past the entrance and into the legion’s bar. The other big guy was inside. Mr. Zeldin sat at a table in one corner of the dim room where the draperies were closed. The setup felt to me the way meetings with the capo di capi in mob movies go. With a bit of the old Hollywood trope of the dictator sitting alone at a desk in a large hall. The thought crossed my mind, “What was he scared of?”
One of the big guys told me to stay back. It was too far away for me to hear what Mr. Haney said or Mr. Zeldin replied. I tried to take a few pictures, but it was too dark. After a few minutes, it was our time to go, and I walked with Mr. Haney to the parking lot. The whole thing felt so weird that I didn’t even ask what they had talked about. I had the sense that the congressman would not have been listening anyway. Mr. Haney seemed pleased enough to have made his point and went on with his day.