Dan's Papers - February 22, 2008 - East Hampton's Loss

What will surely be the largest private yacht to ever visit Sag Harbor, the 250-foot-long SeaFair, will be right in the center of town at the end of Long Wharf between June 26 and June 29 this summer. The arrangement was announced by Mayor Greg Ferraris of that village.

SeaFair, although built as a toy for a billionaire, is now owned by a Florida corporation that uses it to go from wealthy resort to wealthy resort, where, for a few days, the public is invited on board to view it and at the same time purchase high-end art, jewelry and antiques that are for sale. Wherever it goes, it is accompanied by a 100-foot-long support yacht containing, among other things, inventory. Also, a private dinner is served on the yacht daily. Wherever they are, the owners invite up to 350 dignitaries to dine aboard.

In the past, attempts to bring this yacht to the Hamptons have been met with stiff resistance. It has never been clear whether the SeaFair will be an attraction bringing more commerce to the Hamptons or a distraction that brings crowds of people who wind up taking more money away from the Hamptons. The SeaFair was purchased by the Miami Beach corporation in 2003 and applied in 2004 to come to either East Hampton or Sag Harbor. At the time, East Hampton Town passed a law specifically prohibiting the Yacht from coming here. Also, at that time, Sag Harbor Village, by voice vote, rejected the application of the SeaFair.

Apparently, however, the SeaFair, as a concept, is a really good idea. During the past few years it has achieved considerable success, visiting ports such as Miami, Greenwich, Charleston and Manhattan. And they have never given up on finding a place to dock somewhere in the Hamptons, which is, of course, the crown jewel of all the resorts in the world.

So this year they tried again. And, as Mayor Ferraris said, they've gotten their act together. They hired the local public relations firm of Mullen and McCaffery, which is based in the Springs. And they put together two proposals, one for East Hampton, which was their preference, and one for Sag Harbor. In the opinion of this newspaperman, the one for East Hampton was a real knockout.

The SeaFair would dock at Gann Dock in the Springs on Three Mile Harbor for three days. This is a large dock in a quiet marina away from the center of town that has plenty of parking, is owned by the Town and administered by the Harbor Police. Several fishing draggers dock there. It would inconvenience the draggers if the SeaFair came. But other accommodations could be made for them for the few days, all but one of which would have been on a weekend when they were often idle anyway. SeaFair, in exchange for permission to visit, would not only pay a dock rental, but would organize tours of artists studios in the Springs, offer lectures on art appreciation and education, donate $10,000 to the Artists Alliance of East Hampton, $10,000 to Guild Hall, $100,000 to the Town's fire departments and, most interesting of all, $40,000 to the Town for the cost of the Grucci fireworks display that, for each of the past 31 years, has been set off from a barge in the middle of Three Mile Harbor to celebrate Bastille Day. That event, sponsored by the Duke Family, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Boy's and Girl's Harbor Summer Camp that lines the shore there.

This event has been for all these years a highlight of the summer. Fireworks get set off at Main Beach on the weekend of July 4, then ten days later, more than a thousand boats with maybe five thousand people on board assemble in the harbor at dusk to party around the barge, while perhaps ten thousand people bring blankets and lawn chairs to watch the fireworks from many of the public locations along the eight-mile shoreline of the Harbor to enjoy the show.

Last year, however, Boy's and Girl's Harbor was purchased by the Town of East Hampton to be preserved as a park. The fireworks were still held - the Dukes, who owned the camp still have their residence there - this time as a benefit for a group headed up by Mrs. Luly Duke, a native of Cuba, who organizes cultural exchange and humanitarian aid programs for that country. Only about half the usual number of boats attended. It was not as well promoted. And it is not yet clear whether Mrs. Duke will mount the effort to hold the event again this year. It would be a shame if she didn't.

What makes this most interesting is that the Town of East Hampton, which now owns the property, could have decided to take on the mantle of continuing the fireworks itself. They have the resources, the experience and the promotional abilities that Mrs. Duke does not. And indeed, that, in their discussions with SeaFair, is exactly what they had proposed to do.

It is particularly interesting that for two years in a row now, the regular Main Beach Fourth of July fireworks have been cancelled because of the nesting on the beach of some little tiny endangered birds called piping plovers.

All human activity must end within hundreds of feet from where these birds nest and hatch their young from the time they arrive and contemplate a family until the hatchlings have left the nest. This is a period that extends from April to August. (The Town HAD held the Fourth of July celebration fireworks on Labor Day. It has not been well attended. It's like celebrating Christmas in August. Ho hum.)

In any case, the Town Board of East Hampton rejected the proposal of SeaFair by a vote of 4 to 0 with one abstention, which was that of the Supervisor Bill McGintee, who said he wanted to negotiate further with the SeaFair people.

Meanwhile, the SeaFair's second choice, the Village of Sag Harbor, voted 5 to 1 in favor of allowing this luxury yacht to dock at the end of busy Long Wharf in the center of town. The only person who voted no was Ed Deyermond, who may or may not be a grump.