The use of a cemetery as a parking lot by a valet company working a private party in East Hampton incensed local residents and officials over the weekend, though police said it does not appear any damage was done.
Police were notified after 10 p.m. on Saturday night that the valets parking the cars for guests of a party on Cooper Lane were using the Cedar Lawn Cemetery’s vehicle lanes as parking spaces and had parked at least two cars in between gravestones.
“It was disgusting,” said Steven Lynch, the East Hampton Town superintendent of highways, who lives on Cooper Lane and saw the cars in the cemetery. “I have members of my family buried there, the disrespect was insulting. There were cars backed in between gravestones. I don’t know who it was, but someone told them they could park the cars in the cemetery and I know that they did not have permission from the cemetery.”
A representative of the cemetery could not be reached for comment.
East Hampton Town Police Captain Chris Anderson said that police were notified about 10:25 p.m., but that when officers arrived, it appeared that the party, at 64 Cooper Lane, had ended and most of the guests had already departed.
He said officers that responded to the scene reported there were only about 10 cars in the cemetery lanes and that none of them were parked near the gravestones at the time.
Police did not have the name of the valet parking company that had been working the party and said the host of the party did not appear to be aware of where cars had been parked by the valets.
Michael Wright on Jul 13, 2021