By Joe Calderone
Say the word “Hamptons” and the world immediately imagines multi-billionaires residing behind estates surrounded by tall hedges that hide lush in-ground pools, manicured lawns, private beach access and circular driveways stocked with BMWs, Maseratis and the occasional Bentley.
The Wall Street wealthy and Hollywood East sets are seen strolling along the picturesque streets of exclusive East Hampton, Southampton and Bridgehampton boutiques and trendy restaurants.
Then there is Hampton Bays — a proud, working-class, family-friendly community that disdains uber-wealth, celebrates its access to the Peconic and Shinnecock bays, along with great beaches on Dune Road fronting the same ocean waters enjoyed a few miles east in wealthier communities.
It’s also no secret among the locals that you can still get a decent fixer-upper here for a lot less than what you would pay in other parts of “The Hamptons.”
Located just off Sunrise Highway (west of the Shinnecock Canal), before the huge traffic bottleneck along Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays has all the access with less hassle. (And we also have some great restaurants, like Cowfish, Rumba, Edgewater, and the recently opened Amalfi at the Inn Spot.)
What we lack is a walkable downtown.
Right now, our downtown along Montauk Highway is populated by many successful and vital businesses, all of which serve a purpose for the community: Chinese takeout, a UPS store, Scotto’s, a Spanish-themed supermarket in a small strip mall, nail salons, the wonderful Good Ground antiques store, and the great and very useful Shinnecock Ace Hardware store, where the owners know their stuff and actually help you find what you need.
Few in the community wish to replicate Sag Harbor’s or Southampton’s retail corridor, but Hampton Bays’ Main Street has become a little tired in spots and potentially incapable of powering the community’s economy or strengthening the tax base.
The real challenge is how to move forward for the future and manage proposed development so that Hampton Bays improves its downtown but also remains unique and dynamic while protecting the character that has defined its quality of life for its homeowners and residents.
One proposal currently being discussed by the members of the community is being presented by a developer, a Hampton Bays homeowner, Alfred Caiola. While I don’t know Mr. Caiola, his proposal seems level-headed and modest in scope yet ambitious in what he envisions for the remake of our downtown.
He is suggesting a plan that would create new and refreshed store facades, the consideration of residential units, and a walkable business district that includes a road layout that would embrace Good Ground Park, making it far more open and inviting as a public space. Good Ground Park is a beloved oasis, but the park is mainly accessible only by car and basically cut off from Montauk Highway. His vision to tie the business district into the park is smart planning.
Hampton Bays remains much like Montauk once was before the Manhattan crowd took it over with $25 drinks, super-trendy restaurants and $1,000-a-night hotel rooms. Hampton Bays doesn’t want that scene, but we do deserve a better downtown and more affordable housing so that the people who do a lot of the hard work in the Hamptons actually have a place to call home. Caiola’s proposal is a smart start.
It’s been 10 years or more of inaction on various efforts to rezone and remake the Hampton Bays downtown district. The time to act is now.
Joe Calderone is a part-time Hampton Bays resident, a former Newsday and New York Daily News reporter, and the author of “Don’t Look Back” (Post Hill Press), a FDNY/9-11 fact-based novel.
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