Letters

Regarding your article about the meeting you graciously hosted at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, “Press Sessions: Revitalizing East Hampton Village” [“Press Sessions: Revitalizing East Hampton Village Involves Music, Sewers, Events, Panelists Say,” 27east.com, November 22]:

My wife and I were probably the last “mom-and-pop” store ever to try to make a living in East Hampton Village — The Enchanted World, in the courtyard where Rowdy Hall is located. You can actually see what used to be our storefront through the window of the photo of your event.

Our experience as store owners proved to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the powers that be in East Hampton Village don’t want the commercial district to even exist, let alone thrive. They want a pretty Christmas village as found under their trees.

All of our attempts to attract customers were greeted with a visit from the apologetic Village Police officers shutting us down, because of either the plethora of anti-business laws or the complaints of the several vigilant(e?) villagers who believe their job is to complain and make sure that East Hampton Village is not a place for stores to thrive but a somewhat necessary evil that they have to endure so they can walk to one of the great village restaurants, or Starbucks, or the bookstore, or the movies, or Citarella, or Stop & Shop, or the hardware store.

No one else wants to come to East Hampton Village and walk around — they know what is there and what is not — hence, there is hardly anyone walking around our lovely Potemkin Village. “Two hours and you’re ticketed” doesn’t help the situation. It is a self-fulfilling prophesy aided and abetted by the anti-business laws and attitudes we experienced.

It’s too late for us, but I commend The Press and everyone attending your long-needed discussion for trying to bring life back into our, and your, moribund village. The contrast between the life pulsing through Sag Harbor and the lack of same in East Hampton has gone on for far too long.

Monte Farber

Springs