Gerard Drive’s ‘Evening Invasion’
Residents claim nightly drinking, urinating, illegal fishing, and littering
By Joanne Pilgrim

(Aug. 20, 2009)    An unsigned flier placed in mailboxes along Gerard Drive in Springs shows pictures of the Gardiner’s Bay-front area by day, and others that, the flier says, depict “Gerard Drive Park’s Evening Invasion.”

Durell Godfrey Residents of Gerard Drive in Springs have told the East Hampton Town Board that the popularity of nighttime fishing there has resulted in litter and cars parked on fragile roadsides.

    “Dozens of fishermen and families invade the rocks every night by parking along the road,” it says. “They drink, publicly urinate, catch and keep short fish, and litter without repercussions from the town or Gerard community,” the flier says.

    On Tuesday, about a dozen residents of Gerard Drive appeared at an East Hampton Town Board meeting to talk about the increased use of their neighborhood, a narrow spit of sand bordered by a portion of Accabonac Creek and the bay, for evening recreational fishing. The area has become particularly popular with Latinos.

    “This is a kind of fishing that occurs later in the day,” Richard Keidell told the board. “This has now turned into a family affair. We do not want people standing on those wet rocks,” he said. “We have to be more explicit about what can go on on Gerard Drive.” Standing on the rocks, he said, is dangerous and should be banned, with signs posted in both English and Spanish.

    The number of cars parking on the sides of the narrow road, near a causeway and often on beach vegetation, is also a problem, Mr. Keidell and others said. He suggested the town designate parking areas only at the public beaches along Gerard Drive and allow fishing in designated areas only. In addition, Mr. Keidell said, garbage cans should be installed and litter rules enforced, with violators ticketed.

    “It is filthy,” Sheryl Hastalis, another Gerard Drive resident, said. “I go with neighbors and we’ve been picking up really horrible trash.” The area is ecologically fragile, she said, “and it is being destroyed.” She asked the board to require drivers to have a town beach-parking permit to park anywhere along the road. Permits are already required for parking at Gerard Point.

    On the second page of the flier are pictures of trash along the beach labeled “Trash left behind after fishing.” The text suggests that people contact the town police, the Town Marine Patrol, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to report potential violations.

    Another homeowner said that speeding is a problem, and asked for additional speed limit signs to be installed. One resident, however, urged the board not to clutter up the natural view with signs. “The last thing we need are more signs. And we don’t need any more garbage pails,” Michael Hastalis, Ms. Hastalis’s husband, said. Just one notification at the start of Gerard Drive that parking is by town permit only “would eliminate about 30 or 40 percent of those cars,” he said.

    In a letter read by a neighbor to the board, Margot Hardy of Gerard Drive said that cars have parked near diamondback turtle nesting sites along the road, and that she has seen turtles “squished on the road.” At the first causeway on Gerard Drive, she said, parking should be allowed on one side of the road only to prevent parking on vegetation.

    Councilman Brad Loewen warned the board not to act hastily to enact new restrictions. “Recreational fishing is a very important recreational activity,” he said. “I would suggest that if we tell people they can’t stand on the rocks, whether it’s to go fishing or just go out there and stand on the rocks, we would have to apply that everywhere. If we began to ban the use of these rocks on Gerard Drive, how are we not going to ban the use of rocks elsewhere?” he asked. “Or swimming? People go swimming where there are no lifeguards.” Numerous activities residents engage in can pose hazards, he said.

    Mr. Loewen also suggested that putting garbage cans along Gerard Drive may not necessarily be the best action to take. Trash pickup by the Parks and Recreation Department costs the town $308,000 a year, he said. Some people dispose of household garbage in the town refuse bins, he said, in lieu of taking it to the dump. “If we put a garbage can there, they’ll fill it up.” Officials, he said, “should look to enforcement first” of existing no-littering laws. The situation on Gerard Drive will be referred to the town’s litter committee.

    Town Supervisor Bill McGintee promised to visit the area to see things for himself. But, he said, “whether it’s 10 or 110 [people], they have a right to use our beaches. I see it more as a situation that can be addressed by a very good parking plan, and a plan to educate people regarding litter. And support and participation by the user groups,” he said. “We will find a place where they can park without squishing turtles.” And, he said, “we’ll look into some enforcement.” He said he will relay concerns about people flouting fishing regulations to Joe Billotto, an officer for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

    “They’re not users, they’re abusers,” Kelly Ann Smith said of the people who visit her neighborhood. To illustrate the “extent of the problem,” she told the board that on one evening she counted 78 cars parked around the area of the culvert, and more than 100 people. “Once it gets dark, then they head to the beaches,” she said.