Escapades on Fire Island

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

IT'S a barefoot society, car-free and carefree, but as long as anyone can remember, Fire Island, the skinny sandspit stretched along the underside of Long Island, has had its distinctive hierarchy. At the top are the natives, flinty souls who live year round on the 32-mile-long barrier island between the end of Robert Moses State Park and Moriches Inlet, where the Hamptons begin. The natives, it is said, look down on the homeowners and other summer folk who seasonally throng the roughly two dozen communities. The homeowners turn up their noses at the renters. The renters disdain the groupers who chip in for housing shares. And all feel superior to the day-trippers who sail in on the morning ferries and sail out again in the evening.

Which left us somewhere near the bottom -- hotel guests on Fire Island. Yes, there are hotels on Fire Island. No, you wouldn't generally pick them over a house. But between a hotel and nothing, the choice was clear. For five days, my wife and I and our two girls sampled the many delights of New York's quasi Key West with its own rich social and cultural history. We breathed the same fresh salt air and patronized the same restaurants and shops as any third-generation islander. We splashed in the same roiling surf, hunted for the same horseshoe crabs and shells on long stretches of deserted beach, strolled and bicycled the same few blocks between the bay and beach and took the same water taxis to the same outlying communities. And we felt entirely welcome. Indeed, there is probably only one restrictive community, Point O'Woods, where outsiders, whether natives or off-islanders, may get the cold shoulder; but even here we carried out a beach-based incursion without incident.

Yet a word of caution. To book a hotel on Fire Island on a summer weekend is to cast one's fate not to the winds but the singles. A commune of wildly celebrating youth in a Fire Island group house can be noisy, but when the party is compressed into a thin-walled hotel room, the disruption can be truly hellish, as we found out on our last night in Ocean Bay Park. Still, some hotel managements are laxer than others. And Friday and Saturday nights are definitely wilder; weekdays can be positively idyllic.

The first thing many new visitors want to know is where the name Fire Island comes from. The truth is, nobody knows. Some have linked it to the signal fires of whalers or wreckers who tried to lure ships ashore for plunder, or to the onetime fiery stands of poison ivy. Others say it grew out of a misreading on early Dutch maps of vier, or four, islands. Either way, the name, accurately enough, evokes blissful summer vistas of burning sands and blazing sun as well as the constant peril of fire.

Resort development began in the 1890's with the establishment of a Chautauqua Assembly, a movement for Christian betterment through learning and the arts, in what became Point O'Woods. In the early 1900's, just to the west, developers bought up tracts and began selling vacation lots to Brooklynites and other confined city folk for what became the village of Ocean Beach, Fire Island's de facto capital. Served by growing ferry links across Great South Bay, birds of a feather flocked to like-minded communities: boat owners to Saltaire, fishery workers to Seaview, casino-lovers to Ocean Bay Park, families to Kismet. Homosexuals driven from other communities found a welcome in Cherry Grove, creating one of the earliest centers of gay life in the nation.

(A thumbnail history is provided in the paperback ''Fire Island: 1650's-1980's'' by Madeleine C. Johnson, published by Shoreland Press of Mountainside, N.J., and available for $13.95 at the Ocean Beach Historical Society on Bayview Walk.)

Stars and Salons

Stars of the Broadway stage, stalwarts of the Algonquin Round Table, artists, bohemians and assorted hangers-on soon found their way to the quirky seasonal salons of Fire Island, where the politics were often decidedly leftist, and a Marxist group house might well blackball an applicant rumored to be a Trotskyite. Irving Berlin, Fanny Brice, Clifford Odets, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Jimmy Durante, Woody Allen, Lee Strasberg and Marilyn Monroe all made their way there, as did Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, who honed their ''2,000-Year-Old Man'' routine on dinner audiences. And everyone mobilized in the early 1960's to thwart Robert Moses's plan to build an access road through Fire Island.

OUR TOWNS; On Fire Island, Sometimes the Share Goes Out of Sharing

By Evelyn Nieves

KENNY FUNK'S last three summers passed in a whir of beach days and kamikaze nights. There were Grateful Dead marathons and parties with 200 happy-houred guests stuffed onto decks made for 20. "The best times," he said.

He blames himself for this year. Instead of renting space in a beach share as usual, he and two friends decided to run a share house. This is like going from happy camper to camp counselor, or Eagle Scout to den mother. It's sobering, anyway. "The most overwhelming experience of my life," Mr. Funk said.

It was supposed to be fun. In shares, 20 or so adults -- 10 or so per weekend -- return to the ways of college life. It's share and share alike -- rooms, food bills, chores. Somebody or somebodies, namely the leaseholders, set the ground rules and make sure everything runs smoothly. In principle, this is fairly simple.

"Like the Fourth of July is the biggest beach weekend of the season," Mr. Funk said. "So the rule is everyone in the house could come, but no guests." A nice rule -- while it lasted.

"We've made exceptions," he said, after introducing two holiday guests lounging on his deck.

Fact is, juggling the hundred wants and needs of two dozen people is like trying to run across a floor full of marbles. You can make it, but watch out. Exceptions have ruled since he and his buddies laid out $20,000 to rent "Seaclusion," a five-bedroom bungalow camouflaged by pine trees and shrubs. They figured on renting 20 shares in this prime Fire Island community in no time. They would schedule the weekends, arrange maid service, set minimal rules. For the trouble, they would get free shares. But they were stymied from Step One.

"IT was really hard to rent the shares," said Mr. Funk, a 34-year-old graphic artist who lives in Manhattan. They began looking in March for compatible people with an ad in the Village Voice.

"At first, it was, like, really fun," he said. "We'd meet these three or four people at a bar on a Sunday and spend three hours drinking with them. We would tell them our interests -- Grateful Dead and whatnot. If we were lucky, they would call back and say for some reason or other they were going to another house."

This happened, he added, "about 20 times."

Mr. Funk's girlfriend, Nancy Goodman, said he began taking the whole share thing too seriously.

"It was beginning to affect our relationship," she said. "He couldn't stop talking about Fire Island. Whenever we got on the phone, the first thing he mentioned was the house. I told him I was really sick of this."

Until two weeks before the season started on Memorial Day, they still hadn't sold half the shares. "We thought we were going to have to shell out $3,000 each," Mr. Funk said. Luckily, people who I was in a house with before would wind up going into the house." With 24 people renting shares (most have quarter shares, or five weekends), 13 are people he knew.

"We ended up with full shares for $1,000," Mr. Funk said.

"But we really didn't want full shares," said Dave Barnett, one of his fellow leaseholders. "I don't really want to spend every weekend here."

They made big mistakes, Mr. Barnett added. "If people said they wanted blocks of time, we'd agree. We ended up giving weekends away."

THEY think the worst is over now. The house is working out pretty well. On Sunday afternoon, house members were lifting dumbbells off the deck, lounging on the deck, watching the sports channel in the living room, mixing drinks in the kitchen, listening to music in their bedrooms, waiting for a happy-hour party to start. The mix is 11 women, 13 men, ages 26 to 46.

"In our house," Mr. Funk said, "everybody gets along very well. It's a good mix. Everybody's a little nutty."

In a way, running a house has been a hassle because he doesn't like to make rules. There are shares with strict rules about who can visit when and what time you eat. "We really want to be loose," he said, ready for a happy-hour party in his "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" T-shirt and cutoffs. "We're not like camp counselors or mothers."

But he takes the big rules very seriously. "One of the cardinal sins of a summer share is that people in a house aren't supposed to date," he said. "The rule is A.L.D. -- After Labor Day." He admits he has committed the offense in the past. This year, he wouldn't let his girlfriend take a share in his house, even when he was desperate for renters.

"If you fight," he said, "it can ruin the house."

He worries. About how much fun people are having, whether the house is locked properly, how much toilet paper is left. On Saturday, he schlepped $100 worth of steaks and chops from Manhattan for a house barbecue "because food on Fire Island is so expensive." When a housemate complained that the ice maker was broken, he laughed. Then he frowned. "Does that mean I'm supposed to call someone about it?"

Birdwatching in Fire Island

The Eastern Towhee is one of the summer resident birds that breeds on Fire Island. Fire Island's barrier island habitats and location on the Atlantic Flyway make this a good home for both resident and migratory birds. The tidal marsh on the Great South Bay, especially at Watch Hill, is a good place to look for waterfowl, herons and egrets, and red-winged blackbirds. The Sunken Forest, a mature maritime forest at Sailors Haven, provides dense cover for migrating warblers. Other birds, such as the towhee, can be heard rustling the leaves on the forest floor. Near the Fire Island Lighthouse, the fall migration of hawks is monitored by the Fire Island Raptor Enumerators (FIRE) from September through mid-November. Varied habitats of the William Floyd Estate include woods and fields, creeks and salt marsh, providing additional opportunities for bird watching. While the Double-crested Cormorant is seen on the Great South Bay from spring through fall, the Great Black-backed Gull is abundant all year long. Local Audubon Society groups participate in "citizen science" by conducting annual Christmas Bird Count censuses and the Summer Breeding Bird Census in parts of the park. The National Audubon Society and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology sponsor an annual Great Backyard Bird Count in February. Participants can log on and get the easy-to-follow instructions and checklists needed to submit a report from their own backyard or local park or refuge. If Fire Island National Seashore is a part of your "backyard," join the count and provide your observations. Great Backyard Bird Count www.birdsource.org/gbbc For the rare bird alert recording for New York City and Long Island Region (New York State Ornithological Association's Kingbird Region 10), phone: 212-979-3070 Occasionally uncommon birds like the whimbrel are sighted in the park. For More Information Learn more about Fire Island National Seashore's birdlife. Join a guided bird walk. Several programs are scheduled during the spring and fall at the Fire Island Lighthouse and at the William Floyd Estate. Great Backyard Bird Walk at the William Floyd Estate Saturday, February 14, 2009 International Migratory Bird Day Event: Birdwatching in the Fields and Woods of the William Floyd Estate Saturday, May 9 & 17, 2009 9:00 a.m. - Noon 631-399-2030 A World of Birds: Migration to Central America Saturday, August 15, 7 pm program at the Fire Island Lighthouse by International Volunteer with National Park Service Park Flight Program Autumn Bird Walk at the William Floyd Estate Sunday, November 22, 2009 9:00 a.m. 631-399-2030

Fire Island Beachcombing

With every tide, new treasures are deposited on the shoreline. Beachcombing allows you to get a glimpse into the abundance of life in the Great South Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Beachcombing is an activity you can enjoy throughout the year on Fire Island. When ferry service is limited, you may still drive to either end of the island for access to the beach. You are allowed to gather and take home up to two quarts of unoccupied seashells per day (for personal use only), although there are few days when you're likely to find such an abundance of discarded shells. Always check to be sure that your shells—especially the univalves or snail shells—are not occupied by a new owner. Can you guess what created the mysterious black object in the center of this photo? Some of the treasures you find on the beach provide clues to the abundance of life in and on the sea. From marine plants to mollusks and crustaceans, to fish and birds, and even an occasional reptile or mammal. Perhaps your beachcombing will inspire you to learn more about Fire Island's plant and animal life. Always be alert to safety concerns. Occasionally hazardous items like this barbed fishhook wash ashore. Remember to follow appropriate safety tips when you're on the beach and near the water. Time can pass very quickly when you're engrossed in exploring the shoreline, so be careful not to get too much sun (even in winter). The possession or use of a metal detector is not permitted in Fire Island National Seashore.

Fire Island Indoor Activities

When you visit the Fire Island Lighthouse Keepers Quarters museum, you can learn about lighthouses, shipwrecks, and the people who helped rescue and protect others along Long Island's shoreline. While most of Fire Island National Seashore's resources are best enjoyed outdoors, the park does provide limited opportunities to get out of the sun or bad weather and learn about those things that make this such a special place. The Fire Island Lighthouse is open all year, weather permitting. There you may peruse two floors of interactive and two-dimensional exhibits about the maritime history of Fire Island. Guided lighthouse tower tours are also available. Fire Island National Seashore's visitor centers at Watch Hill, Sailors Haven, and Wilderness are open seasonally, and provide an opportunity to learn about the local natural resources. You may request to view the park's 13-minute orientation video, if it's not already playing. The William Floyd Estate is not open as many days or hours as the other sites, but the 1-hour guided tour through the Manor House is worth making the extra effort to catch during your visit.

Explore and Enjoy Diverse Resources and Recreational Opportunities within Fire Island National Seashore

If you haven't been to Fire Island National Seashore before, you may want to watch the park's orientation film, now available on-line. (See Photos & Multimedia.) Parts of Fire Island are accessible all year, although the most facilities and the majority of visitors come to Fire Island during the summer months. From late June through early September, the weather is the most favorable for beach-related activities. However, the beach can still be enticing on those warmer days of autumn, winter and spring. Properly prepared, every visit to Fire Island can be special.

Even during July and August, you may be able enjoy a relatively uncrowded beach if you visit mid-week. Watch Hill's lifeguarded beach is about a half-mile walk over a boardwalk trail from the ferry dock. The half-hour ferry ride from Patchogue to Watch Hill, or from Sayville to Sailors Haven, is part of the experience of visiting Fire Island National Seashore.

The Fire Island Lighthouse and Wilderness Visitor Center—both parts of Fire Island National Seashore—and Smith Point County Park and Robert Moses State Park—located on either end of Fire Island—are accessible year-round, but operating hours vary by season. Fire Island's Sailors Haven, Barrett Beach/Talisman and Watch Hill units are dependent on water travel, and are open from mid-May through mid-October each year. Many of the Fire Island communities provide seasonal services. The William Floyd Estate, on Long Island in Mastic Beach, is open Memorial Day weekend through late October, Friday through Sunday and holidays. Ranger-led interpretive activities are primarily scheduled for summer months at all locations.

By visiting during the shoulder seasons of spring and fall, or by planning to visit on weekdays during the summer, you may avoid the crowds. In the off-season (October through April), however, public transportation to the island may be limited, and some services on various parts of the island are unavailable.

"Passport to Your National Parks" can be stamped at six locations in Fire Island National Seashore. Participants in the National Park Travelers Club and other cancellation stamp collectors may get their passport book stamped at six locations: Fire Island Lighthouse, Wilderness Visitor Center, Park Headquarters in Patchogue are open all year, but days and hours vary by season; William Floyd Estate, Watch Hill Visitor Center and Sailors Haven Visitor Center are open seasonally. You will have to plan more carefully in the shoulder and winter seasons in order to get your passbook stamped. You should be able to purchase a "Passport to Your National Parks" book at each Fire Island National Seashore visitor center.

Be sure to review the train and ferry schedules in advance, and pay particular attention to the return schedules. Ferries run regularly to the island in the summer months but are limited in the off-season. See "Directions" for park access information.

Schedule at least a full day for each visit to Fire Island, since getting to and from the island requires more time than you might expect. Allow for time to enjoy the seashore.

Fire Island Watch Hill

The lifeguarded ocean beach at Watch Hill is normally quite uncrowded, especially on week days. Many people agree it's well worth the walk from the bayside marina and ferry dock to enjoy pristine beaches such as this. Watch Hill is located on the western edge of the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness, directly across the Great South Bay from Patchogue, Long Island. It is accessible by Watch Hill Ferry, private boat, and foot only. The Watch Hill area offers a visitor center, a campground with 26 family campsites and 1 group camp site (reservations are needed by mail), permits for backcountry camping in the Fire Island Wilderness, ranger-led interpretive programs (including guided canoe trips), a 183-slip transient marina with water, electric, and pump-out station; a small convenience store, snack bar, self-guiding nature trail, picnic area, lifeguarded beach (summer only), restrooms, bathhouse, and pay phones. The Pier at Watch Hill, a renovated full service restaurant with seating for 90, is open for dinner on Friday and Saturday during the shoulder seasons, and on Thursday - Sunday during the summer. Reservations are accepted and transient dockage is available for patrons. The Watch Hill General Store and Snack Bar are open daily mid-May through mid-September, then weekends through mid-October. The Watch Hill Marina can accommodate boats with a draft to 5 feet and a 10- to 13-foot beam. A few slips can handle up to 20-foot wide vessels. Most slips have water and 50 amp electricity (125 volt and 250 volt; extra fee charged). There is a 14-day limit on each stay. Limited reservations will be accepted by phone at 631-597-3109 on the day of arrival, after 8:30 a.m. (See this year's dates and rates.) Marina Group Reservations Organized groups of at least 20 boats are able to make advance reservations during the shoulder season months of May, June, September and October (excluding holiday weekends of Memorial Day and Labor Day). Contact Fire Island Concessions, LLC at 631-597-3109 for more information. Enjoying a summer sunset is a favorite activity at Watch Hill. Things To Do: Interpretive Programs/Guided Tours Education Programs Sunbathing/Swimming Beachcombing Hiking Saltwater Fishing Camping Day-Use and Overnight Marina Weather permitting, 10:00 p.m. Saturday evening ferry from Watch Hill back to Patchogue provides an opportunity for an evening program or stroll on the beach or dining in the Pier at Watch Hill restaurant. Through Labor Day only, reservations required. Pets must always be leashed, and you should be prepared to pick up after your pet. Share the Beach Since 2007, piping plovers have been nesting closer to the Watch Hill beach, both east and west of the lifeguarded area. The plovers and terns are back for 2009! For this reason, greater restrictions are again placed on the use of kites and pets are not permitted on most of the beach in front of Watch Hill through mid-August. Pets are never allowed on lifeguarded beaches. As of mid-June 2009, no pets or kites are allowed on the ocean beach from Davis Park to Smith Point, except for a small 200-yard section on the east side of the Watch Hill lifeguarded beach. You may walk your dog on the trails at Watch Hill or on the bay beach, but please remember: Pets must always be leashed. How To Get There Watch Hill Ferry Terminal is located at 160 West Avenue in Patchogue, New York, 11772. From the Long Island Expressway (LIE or I-495), take Exit 61 S onto County Road 19 (Patchogue-Holbrook Road). From Sunrise Highway (Route 27), take Exit 52 South onto County Road 19 (Patchogue-Holbrook Road/Waverly Avenue). About 1 mile from Rt. 27, bear left. Cross Main Street, go over the railroad tracks, and cross Division Street. Pass the bowling alley. Ferry terminal parking lot is on your right. Watch Hill marina and other facilities are open mid-May through mid-October. Important Phone Numbers: (Seasonal, mid-May — mid-October) Watch Hill Visitor Center: 631-597-6455 Watch Hill Ranger Station: 631-597-7021 Watch Hill Campground: 631-567-6664 Watch Hill Marina, Snack Bar and Store: 631-597-3109 The Pier at Watch Hill Restaurant: 631-597-9060 Watch Hill Ferry Service: 631-475-1665

Fire Island Park Statistics

Within Fire Island National Seashore's park boundaries there are almost 15,000 acres of open water, 26 bay islands, approximately 101 miles of coastline (including 72 of Fire Island's 84 miles of Atlantic Ocean and bay shorelines), and 1,380 acres of wilderness. Acreage Fire Island National Seashore encompasses 19,580.29 acres of marine and terrestrial property. Federal (6,241.95 acres): 3,090.44 acres owned by the National Park Service (NPS Fee Acres) including 1,380 acres of Federally-designated Wilderness 3,151.51 acres (NPS or Other Federal Less Than Fee Acres) Non-Federal (13,338.34 acres): 12,422.73 acres of Other Public Lands Smith Point County Park (approx. 1,030 acres) Village of Bellport Beach (approx. 16.4 acres) Atlantique Beach (Town of Islip) Leja Beach/Davis Park (Town of Brookhaven) Publicly-owned bay bottom and bay islands 915.61 acres of privately owned lands within the designated boundary of Fire Island National Seashore Designations Fire Island National Seashore - September 11, 1964 (Public Law 88-587) See Legislative History

During most years, Fire Island's visitation has gradually climbed. The decrease from 1994-1996 is most likely due to major storm damage to both beaches and property. In 2003, excessive rain, especially on weekends, appears to have affected visitation. Visitation In 2008, Fire Island National Seashore counted 850,925 people at its facilities. 604,577 recreational visits 246,348 non-recreational visits In 2004, the park recorded its peak visitation figure of 975,236: 819,161 recreational visits 156,075 non-recreational visits These figures are for visitation to park-owned sites only, and do not reflect the actual number of people spending time within the boundaries of Fire Island National Seashore. It is estimated that 2.2 million people annually come to Fire Island, either into one of the 17 private communities, to the county park, on waters surrounding the island, or to one of the national seashore facilities. The busiest months at Fire Island National Seashore are July and August, and the busiest days are on the weekends. The National Park Service Public Use Statistics website includes detailed visitation data for Fire Island from 1967 to the present, as well as statistics for other National Park Service areas.

For More Information

For a more comprehensive analysis of park visitation, staffing and budget, you may wish to peruse:

Fire Island National Seashore Business Plan, Fiscal Year 2004.

For a more detailed break-down of visitation numbers:

NPS Public Use Statistics