At Home with Jay Schneiderman

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman has a knack for coming up with creative, out-of-the-box solutions, whether it’s initiating the “cones program” to alleviate snail-paced traffic on County Road 39, or transforming his 700-square-foot 1930s oceanfront cottage in Montauk into a three-story home with 3,000 square feet of living space without compromising a shred of its original coziness.

“Here’s what it looked like back in the 30s,” the 46-year-old said, holding a faded black-and-white photograph of the original white shack—the sole structure against a barren, windswept landscape.

As a child, Mr. Schneiderman passed by the house often. His parents owned the Breakers Motel just down the road on Old Montauk Highway. At the time, a spinster woman known to locals as “Aunt May” owned the home.

Mr. Schneiderman never imagined that one day he would be inhabiting it.

Growing up in the hotel business, Mr. Schneiderman learned many skills that would serve him well as an adult. In dealing with hordes of visitors every summer, he learned the art of diplomacy. And when things broke, he learned to fix them.

“In that business, you have to deal with all kinds of things as they come up,” said Mr. Schneiderman, who today is skilled in carpentry, masonry, furniture making and electrical repair.

When Aunt May’s house went on the market 12 years ago, Mr. Schneiderman saw a diamond in the rough and set about its transformation into a more family-friendly space.

“I wanted to keep the original cabin for its history and style, but wanted to make it bigger. I also had to work within the limits of all the zoning and set-back regulations,” said the man whose early career in politics included a stint as chairman of the East Hampton Zoning Board. “It turns out that all those years on the Zoning Board paid off with all the knowledge I gained for this house!”

Mr. Schneiderman gutted the interior and, over time, created—mostly through his own vision and handiwork—a five-bedroom, three-bath home with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean. A large kitchen and dining area with a massive stone fireplace can now be found in the footprint of the original shack. It’s one of the Schneiderman family’s favorite rooms in the house.

“Natural elements are really important to me. When I designed this space, I wanted nothing artificial—only wood, stone, metal and things that I felt would resonate with warmth and make you feel at home,” he explained, pointing out the kitchen’s granite countertops and birch cabinetry. “The kitchen door pulls are made from stones I found across the street at the beach, and the pine floors were made using the wood from the interior walls of the original house.”

The kitchen leads into what is now a cozy living room.

“This room was an addition to the original cottage around the late 1940s and when we first moved in the space was used for bedrooms. My daughter, Magda, was born in this room,” he said of his first-born. His younger child, a son, Ruben, also was home-birthed.

Now the space holds a baby grand piano, which Mr. Schneiderman uses to compose songs, along with comfortable sofas and an “Alice in Wonderland”-inspired oil painting by his late mother, who was named Magda, but was known as Madge to friends and family.

“My mother was born in Hungary and orphaned at age 14. She came to the States in 1938, right before Hitler wiped out the rest of her family,” he said.

In the nearby entryway, Mr. Schneiderman keeps a secretary desk that once belonged to his father, Ruben, who went by the name Robert. The desk’s top shelves are lined with such treasures as Romanian pottery and a miniature car topped with a surfboard.

“We ran the Breakers in the summer months, and my father taught second grade in Centereach the rest of the year. It’s interesting, because we lived in Hauppauge and summered in Montauk. And now I live in Montauk and travel several days a week to Hauppauge to the County Legislature,” he said, laughing at the irony.

To the west of the entryway, Mr. Schneiderman added on three bedrooms and a bath. A more recent renovation is the second story addition, which serves as an art and music-filled master bedroom and “multi-function” room. A well-worn sofa and 1950s soda fountain table and chairs add to the room’s casual, fun ambiance.

“Later today, I’ll be practicing with my band up here,” said Mr. Schneiderman, a respected percussionist who studied drumming in Cuba and Mali, West Africa, and now has a four-piece band called Living Rhythm, which plays at such nightspots as the Surf Shack in Amagansett.

With its exposed beam ceiling, rough-hewn vertical paneling, and wall of windows that lets in ocean breezes, this is a room worthy of musical inspiration, as is the piano and collection of hanging guitars and drums from Africa, India, Cuba and Brazil that fill its space.

Although Mr. Schneiderman studied chemistry at Ithaca College and taught science and math at the Hampton Day School and Ross School before entering the world of politics, he has always had a passion for art, he said, as is evidenced by the sculptures in the room that seem worthy of any art gallery.

“This was a piece I made about 15 years ago and always liked,” he said, pointing out a shepherd-like angel made of epoxy resin and plaster. “It reminded me of the German film, ‘Wings of Desire,’ about angels who watch over us with love, but never intervene in our struggles.”

More recent works include sculptures twisted out of 19-gauge wire to resemble pliable poultry netting. The life-size forms in the room take the shape of a frog, fish, ostrich, and a man that took “months and months” to make.

“They’re almost atomic, like an inner structure. People think things are solid, but we’re really all space,” said Mr. Schneiderman, a man who gives the impression that his brain waves are always functioning at high speed. “I think the next sculptures I make will be more mechanical in nature. I would love to do moving sculptures that dance in the wind.”

Mr. Schneiderman’s sculptures can also be transitory in nature, based on his annual entries in the Amagansett Sand Castle Contest. Over the years, his entries have included a mother and baby hippo, a family of dogs on the beach, a girl in bed surrounded by a “dream sequence” and a man fishing from a boat.

The 13 trophies he’s won at the community event attest to his talents and line a shelf that leads to his home’s lower level. There, a playroom, extra bedroom and bathroom can be found, along with more oil paintings by his mother.

“Because she died of cancer, I also make a bird house sculpture every year for the South Fork Breast Health Coalition’s Bird House Auction,” he said.

Mr. Schneiderman, who today owns the Breakers Motel along with his sister, nationally-known jewelry designer Helen Ficalora, joked that he can always “try his hand as an artist” if his career in politics comes to an end.

But it’s clear that Mr. Schneiderman hopes that day won’t come soon. Since his early days as a member of the Concerned Citizens of Montauk, he has fervently embraced politics as a way to help make people’s lives better, reduce toxins in the environment, keep taxes low and preserve thousands of acres of land to retain the East End’s rural character.

Elected as East Hampton’s town supervisor in 1999, he served two terms and then ran a successful race for Suffolk County legislator in 2003, where he’s served ever since.

“Next year is an election year and right now I’m now in unchartered territory,” he said, recognizing the politically risky decision he made in July to switch from the Republican to Independent parties.

“It made sense because I’ve always voted my conscience—not along party lines. I’ve always voted for what I thought was best for the people I serve,” he said. “And I think if people vote for a candidate based on their job performance, I think I can win as an Independent candidate.”

The legislator, who has always been willing to take gambles, feels his record speaks for itself. The orange cones are one example, he said.

“It broke the traffic bottleneck as I believed it would,” said Mr. Schneiderman, who, at the same time, worked for funding to add two lanes to the highway along County Road 39.

“It’s so important that we keep the East End a place of openness and serenity,” he said. “And when I’m here at my house in Montauk, I feel that openness and serenity. You should see the gorgeous sunrises from my deck.”

Looking out at the ocean from his master bedroom deck, Mr. Schneiderman echoed the lyrics from one his favorite songs by musician Bruce Cockburn:

“All the diamonds in this world that mean anything to me are conjured up by the wind and sunlight sparkling on the sea.”