A special event, purportedly for an electric vehicle educational display in Herrick Park, went awry on July 9 and was promptly shut down by Marcos Baladron, the East Hampton Village administrator, after he fielded multiple complaints from residents about a General Motors “car dealership” at the park’s entrance.
While it can be viewed in isolation, it unearthed a longstanding philosophical debate about community, and how public spaces within the village should be used.
The event had a permit to run from noon until 6 p.m. on July 9; setup began hours earlier. But just 45 minutes after the event began, Eventlink L.L.C. received notice that it was to shut down.
“The event was originally described to Village Hall as an educational forum for electric vehicles,” said Mr. Baladron. “We’ve done others in the past. Instead, it was a Trojan Horse for a national auto brand to sell cars in Herrick Park, something we would never allow. As soon as it became clear what was happening, we terminated their permit and shut it down. The Village of East Hampton will always protect its public spaces from commercial misuse.”
A Facebook post by Larry Cantwell, who served for 30 years as the East Hampton Village administrator before being elected to two terms as East Hampton Town supervisor in 2013, that showed cars parked at the Newtown Lane entrance with 15-foot-high banners helped spark the outrage.
“New General Motors dealership opened today on Herrick Park,” he wrote. “When will the exploitation end?”
When reached by phone, Mr. Cantwell expounded further. “Herrick Park was donated for the community to be used as a park and recreation,” he said. “I don’t think the public places in the Village of East Hampton should be for sale and commercialized by these major corporations. I feel like there are an awful lot of people and corporations who want to take advantage of our community. My belief is we should have zero tolerance for the commercialization of public space
and public property. It shouldn’t be for sale, period.”
He said he entered the park and found six cars, hoods open, on the grass by Newtown Lane.
“It was out of control. There were 10 signs promoting G.M. products. There were 15-foot-high banners, and they were unloading a tent. There were stands next to each parked car with a description of its attributes. It was like you were walking through a car dealership,” he said.
Eventlink paid $1,500 for the permit and was refunded when the event was canceled. Mr. Baladron said the village anticipates receiving $16,000 annually for special event permits, which goes into the general fund.
“It wasn’t for a contribution,” said Mayor Jerry Larsen. “It was similar to other vendors who do art shows in the park, or, for example, the farmers market in the park. They pay a small fee to the village, $500, and they get a permit to do their event. It’s a public space. People apply for permits and unless there’s a good reason not to allow it, it’s allowed. This event, I agree, was over the top, and not what we expected it to be.”
Included in this doozy of a sentence, within village code, is one type of special event that is prohibited.
“Outdoor sale of goods or services on property not owned by a not-for-profit corporation, if such sale of goods or services is inconsistent with the approved use of the premises, unless the special event is sponsored by a charitable organization as the same is defined herein and the Village Board has determined that the proceeds of the event will benefit the not-for-profit corporation and the community on a local level after deduction of reasonable expenses, and that no individual or entity not actually providing a service in furtherance of the event will profit from the same.”
When a special event permit request is made, Mayor Larsen said, it is distributed to all of the department heads, including the police, and they all make comments or suggest restrictions. Mr. Baladron reviews the comments, chooses whether any restrictions should be incorporated, and then either approves or denies the permit.
In this instance, the Department of Public Works specifically restricted the cars from parking on the grass, but the restriction was ignored.
The night before the event at Herrick Park, two of the E.V. cars were featured at the Tuesday night Main Beach concert, sponsored by the East Hampton Village Foundation. Bradford Billet, executive director of the foundation, said they organizer had made a $5,000 donation to be part of the evening.
“We had nothing to do with the Herrick Park event,” Mr. Billet said on July 9, adding that the organizer had inquired about being part of the Main Beach event after it had received its special event permit from the village for the Herrick Park event.
“It was not a sales thing. They displayed two vehicles and gave away swag. It was about E.V. technology and how great it is. It wasn’t the focus of the night,” he said.
The popular Main Beach concerts draw thousands of people each week. And hefty sponsorships enable them to be free. A gold-level sponsor pays $25,000, a silver-level sponsor pays $10,000. The money goes to the foundation, which has used it to fund improvements in Herrick Park, such as new courts and fields, public safety improvements, such as the FLOCK cameras, and community events, like the concerts.
“In the roughly four years we’ve been in existence, the foundation has given almost $3 million to the village for the public benefit,” said Mr. Billet. “All of these things are for the public good. None of the donors or sponsors are getting special treatment, other than getting their name out there. I won’t say there’s no value to that.” He says he has turned away hundreds of thousands of dollars from alcohol companies who want to sponsor events.
“What’s it going to be next?” asked Mr. Cantwell. “If you let G.M. do it one weekend, will it be Ford on Labor Day? Once you open up the box where do you draw the line? For what? For a contribution? Aren’t we bigger and better than that?”
“I don’t appreciate Mr. Cantwell’s comments,” said Mayor Larsen.
“When we took over, we inherited an abandoned park and we’ve turned it into a community space. Just like it says in the deed, it’s for town and village residents to enjoy. When we shut down the street and had the block party, I didn’t know how that would be received, but people loved it. If you don’t take a risk, and you hide under your shell, you’ll never know what can build a community and what won’t.”
