Long Island Proud, Montauk Like No Other Place In World: Opinion

Is there anywhere quite like Montauk? A place where the very first explorers including John Smith and Henry Hudson sailed past, marveling at her ocean-hugging bluffs? Is it unusual that George Washington would choose Montauk Point to construct the nation's first official lighthouse? Does it seem bizarre that the first cattle ranch in the New World was in Montauk? Is it possible ancient fishermen fished the waters before heading back to Scandinavia? And, lastly, did you ever meet anyone who visited Montauk and didn't want to come back?

It's hard to understand that prior to the Long Island Rail Road coming out to Montauk around 1895 to 1896, the official population was under 150 people. How many towns have a First House, and a Second House, that people can still point out where they are/were? Yes, the peninsula that Montauk is, at the end of Long Island, is a unique point on a unique island.

Long Islanders are unique, can-do characters. They are networked all over the island in a way perhaps unlike any other place in the world. Everyone seems to know someone from almost every town, village and hamlet. Montauk goes beyond that. With many local love/hate relationships among the neighbors, everyone comes together help each other in a crisis like no other place I have ever lived. The sense of community is extremely strong. Hopefully, that Montauk characteristic of its locals will endure.

In recent years, Montauk has again evolved almost as radically as it must have after the LIRR station was completed in the late 1800s — or the change after the troops left in the early 20th Century and lastly, during the 1950s through the 1970s, when most of the folks' families making up the local population moved in.

Now there is a phenomenon talked about — the cost of buying a home in Montauk and of staying for a few days in Montauk for a vacation. The days of $40,000 family homes/cottages is long gone and the idea of spending a week in a hotel/motel for less than $2,000 is now almost over. Locals experts say it's what the market demands. Folks who own, love the strong real estate market. It has that 2006 feel of "Oh, my." However, the young folks are now forced to rent and move about because they can't find a permanent place to raise their kids in their hometown. There are places to buy starter homes for around $200,000 on Long Island — just not in Montauk.

You either ride the wave of change or you get crushed by it. That seems to be a problem in the Village of Montauk, literally, as beach erosion and new higher tides are challenging the existence of motels/hotels along the ocean. Mother Nature will eventually win even after millions are spent to buy time and placate well-founded fears. In the end, the Montauk community will come together for a way of dealing with the rising tides and the changes they bring. Some folks will lose everything and others will get rich.

Either way, folks will continue to drive out to Montauk, to live, to work, to visit, to fish, to beach or just to drive past the lighthouse.

T.J. Clemente is a Patch columnist.

Photo courtesy T.J. Clemente.