The East Hampton Town Board has named the Wainscott Green — the newly created passive park on Montauk Highway, on property bought by the town in 2018 — after the late Rick Del Mastro, a civic activist and philanthropist who called Wainscott home.
Family and friends of Mr. Del Mastro, along with the East Hampton Town Board members themselves, gathered on Sunday to dedicate the park. Before he died of Covid-19 in April, Mr. Del Mastro had been a supporter of the town's efforts to acquire the property.
"We think of Rick all the time," said Carolyn Logan Gluck, who succeeded Mr. Del Mastro as head of the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee. "He really defined the C.A.C. as I knew it when I first joined. He left so much behind that was great."
The 1.1-acre park has a gravel walkway winding through it — shaped roughly like a heart, to the delight of Mr. Del Mastro's family — and a parking lot along Ardsley Road where it meets East Gate Road. A memorial dogwood tree has been planted. Town officials and C.A.C. members have said they hope to see a gazebo and more benches added at some point in the future.
Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said he first met Mr. Del Mastro before he was elected, back when he was a member of the town planning board, and said Mr. Del Mastro taught him how to be a good listener. He called the park an example of Mr. Del Mastro's dedication to Wainscott.
"We are so blessed to have known him, and I think there is no finer way to honor him at this moment than to dedicate this park here in Wainscott, the Wainscott Green, to Rick Del Mastro, who we all loved and will cherish. It will be wonderful to see this property evolve and grow," Mr. Van Scoyoc said.
