April 27, 2000
To many cyclists, a paved bike path between Southampton and Amagansett, away from the traffic of Montauk Highway, is long overdue: As popular as cycling and in-line skating are on the South Fork, there are few accommodations for non-motorized traffic.
. . . Conceived by the Group for the South Fork in the early 1990s, the bikeway will be primarily financed by the State Department of Transportation with additional funds from Southampton and East Hampton Towns. Part of the bikeway’s purpose is to encourage biking as an alternative method of transportation.
. . . The first four-mile stretch of bikeway would give bikers a paved, mainly off-road route from the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton to Buckskill Road in East Hampton. It would then meander more or less parallel to the Long Island Rail Road tracks, going across both public and private property and some commercial parcels.
The right of way sought would be 10 to 20 feet wide. Mike Bottini of the Group for the South Fork said people could grant easements to the town, or the Department of Transportation could step in and condemn the needed strips of property. . . . “We’re talking about a narrow strip adjacent to the railroad tracks,” Bottini said.
Several residents along Southampton’s length of the bikeway have written to the town and local papers to express opposition to the plan as it now stands.
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One of the last large open farm fields in East Hampton moved an important step closer to becoming a recreational park last Thursday evening.
By a 4-to-1 majority, the East Hampton Town Board voted to ask Suffolk County to buy the 42.2-acre Schwenk property between Long Lane and Route 114, just beyond the East Hampton Village line. The money would come from the Community Greenways Program, a $62 million bond passed by voter referendum in November 1998.
The property lies within walking distance of East Hampton High School, whose playing fields are at maximum capacity, according to Town Councilman Pete Hammerle, the board’s liaison to the East Hampton School District.
. . . Henry Schwenk, whose family has owned the property for generations, was in negotiations with the town last autumn when the Old Montauk Athletic Club went public with an elaborate plan for athletic facilities on the land, including an amphitheater and other structures.
Schwenk did not approve of OMAC’s plan and withdrew from negotiations with the town when a purchase price could not be agreed upon.
On Monday, he said he was “pleased” with the new proposal to put ball fields on the property, but said his primary consideration would be the purchase price, “because this real estate is all we have.”
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The Montauk Rugby team began to warm up for its appearance in the Major League Rugby Elite Eight tournament three weeks hence with a 71-0 win at Rockaway Saturday.
Asked if the victory margin were a record, Frank Bistrian, the side’s spokesman and one of its forwards, said, “We beat New Jersey 96-3 three years ago. The ref called it with 20 minutes left. He figured they’d had enough.”
. . . Getting back to Rockaway, Bistrian said 10 substitutes — who ordinarily would have played in the B game had there been one — were brought in in the second half with no falloff in intensity. “Ordinarily, you’re not allowed to make more than six substitutions, but Rockaway didn’t complain,” he said. “Actually, we were missing four starters that day.”
