Montauk, N.Y.
Lauren Morris’s
gold lamé high heels kept getting stuck between the planks of the patio deck. Her only alternative were flip-flops, which she only wore “to not touch the floor in my share house,” said Ms. Morris, an account executive in a fashion showroom. “
They’re gross.”
Wearing a sun-yellow tube dress, Ms. Morris held a glass of champagne, with a blueberry, a blackberry and a strawberry floating in it, and surveyed the scene. A reggae-influenced band played loudly as
young men in pressed oxford shirts and jeans with complicated back-pocket designs were sprawled on ottomans. Eyeing them were tan women in skimpy floral-print sundresses.
That’s right, Montauk, known as “The End.” Not Bridgehampton, East Hampton or Southampton, where the thumping fabulousness on display at the Surf Lodge has long been a mark of summertime. Montauk, the easternmost tip of Long Island, is a town that has for generations been distinctly, and proudly low-key, the un-Hampton, where commercial fishermen live and work, and
where middle-class families could afford hotel rooms, miniature golf and soft-serve ice cream.The Surf Lodge, owned by the same group that runs the clubs Cain and GoldBar in Manhattan, is not the only sign of the new Montauk. Chic boutiques dot the village, old seaside motels are being turned into
million-dollar condominiums, and an international marina developer who wants to attract
megayachts is renovating the rundown 79-year-old yacht club.
Liveable Home, a furnishings store opened last fall by Adrienne Valenza, an interior designer.
“My partner and I thought it would be great to have a store to address things that are missing from Montauk,” Ms. Valenza said, sitting behind a desk not far from
a glass “rock bowl” selling for $172. “Montauk is becoming this great shopping destination, so why not?”
Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily have done photo sessions there, and the hotel rooms,
about $450 a night, are booked every weekend for the rest of the summer, said Steve Kasuba, an owner.
Another Surf Lodge owner, Jamie Mulholland, said the issues raised by the town are
“minor growing pains” that are normal for any fast-growing business.
...the signature drink [at the bar] is the Yachtini, a mixture of rum, lime, pineapple juice, almond syrup, Grand Marnier and Champagne. A
Mega-Yachtini is $100 and comes in a martini glass big enough to hold a carp.
“
Montauk is a special place,” Mr. Farkas said in a telephone interview.
“What we are trying to do is cultivate that feeling.”Not too many decades ago,
developers sought to attract a different class of people to Montauk. A new book by Paul Sahre, “Leisurama Now” lovingly chronicles the history of 200 low-key ranch houses that were sold in Montauk in the mid-60s by Macy’s. The price:
as little as $12,990, including land and all furnishings. Now, an enlarged Leisurama house can sell for $800,000, according to Mr. Sahre. New two-bedroom attached houses on the property of the Panoramic View Hotel are being
sold for $2.8 million,
luxury oceanfront cabanas included.
At the Shagwong, a bar and restaurant, where fishermen, construction workers, realtors and vacationers have been drinking since 1969, a group of Montauk old-timers were grousing about the changes. “
Look at all the places that used to be like this that are gone,” said Harold Foster, a semi-retired carpenter who has lived here since 1967. “The Windjammer, the Harvest, the Blue Marlin. This place and Liar’s are the only places left you can come meet your friends.”
From: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/fashion/06hampton.html?_r=1&ref=style&oref=login
unveiled an aircraft in the US that will be used for his project to launch tourists into space.
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